A Different Hogwarts Tale
by Zeroththesith
Summary: Everyone knows the classic Hogwarts tale, but no one knows another. Meet four girls, one running away from the family she never wanted, the other from a past she desperately wants to forget. Another running from a role she never really fit and the other learning to take on the role she is destined to inherit. Strange new magic surfaces, only to be kept in the shadows.
1. Lee and Harmony

**Chapter One** **: Lee and Harmony**

She had her hood pulled over her face as she creeped up the rusty fire escape. A strand of her brown hair came out from under it. The bag she hid under her hoodie was full of small pocket change, rolls, and the small payment she got from the bakery across the street. She pulled herself in the top window. Though the building looked fine on the outside, the inside was awful.

Her name was Lee. She pulled down her hood and went over to a loose, rotting floorboard. Lee pulled it up quietly and grabbed a small cash box, quickly putting all of the money she had made into it and placing it back in its hiding spot. She jumped when a head came from below.

"Tillie!" Lee hissed. "I told you not to do that!"

"Sorry Lee," Tillie replied. "The other girls just wanted to know if you'd gotten back."

"Get them below the loft and I'll give them what the Colters gave me," Lee ordered. "Just make sure they're quiet. We don't want to wake up Smirt or we're all in trouble."

Tillie was different from Lee, but only in appearance. Her blonde hair and brown eyes contrasted Lee's own brown hair and blue eyes. Lee didn't waste time going down an old ladder to meet a crowd of many younger girls. Without a word, she distributed all of the rolls she had and sent the girls back to their rooms. This was a normal occurrence at the Smirt Sisters' Home for Girls. Lee went back up to the loft and grabbed a small blanket. A breeze blew in through the window, and Lee struggled to shut it. They didn't call her home the Windy City for nothing. The light that streamed into the loft made her pale skin even paler. Lee sat against the wall, curled in her blanket and fell asleep.

Across the ocean, in a skyscraper in Italy, another girl was sleeping soundly, despite her mother's best efforts. Her name was Harmony. When she finally woke up, her jet-black hair was a tangled mess.

"Harmony, you must get up," her mother said sweetly. "Your father might need some help with some paperwork."

"But I hate paperwork," she groaned in response. "Besides, I'm only eleven."

"You need to be ready when you take over the family business."

Harmony reluctantly got herself out of bed. The day was going to be a long one. Especially if she was going to have to help her father with work. She stopped and grabbed some coffee before heading to one of the lower floors. There was an assortment of strange people. The majority of her father's colleagues were strange. Harmony almost didn't notice the new owl that landed outside on the window.

"Chrome, your owl's outside!" A man called.

"No, my owl's right here!" A woman called back.

That drew her attention. The owl outside was a regular barn owl. Except that it had a letter clasped in its beak. Harmony ran over and opened the window, taking the letter from the owl. She read who it was addressed to and was surprised to see it addressed to her. It even said where her room was.

"Dad!" Harmony called excitedly, running to her father. "Dad, I got a letter!"

"A letter?" Her father asked. "I didn't see one in the post."

"It came by owl," she explained. "Isn't that cool?!"

"Well open it Harmony."

She listened to her father. Harmony read the letter three times before she understood what it meant.

"It says I've been accepted to a school called Hogwarts," Harmony said. "It says I'm a witch."

"Your mother and I thought this might be a possibility," her father replied. "We'll talk about it tonight and see if you can go."

Harmony smiled at her father. If she was going to Hogwarts, She could see what school was like, instead of being taught by her tutor. She couldn't wait for tonight!

Lee was up at six o'clock the next day. She didn't wait for anyone else to get up and snuck out on the fire escape. She didn't like the girls knowing when or where she was going. It was bad enough at the orphanage without Smirt trying to get the girls to sell her out.

It didn't take long for Lee to get where she was going. The newsstand was already open.

"Good morning Lee," the man said cheerfully.

"Good morning," she muttered in response.

"Did Angellica send you to get the paper again?" He asked with a smile. "You should feel lucky to have a woman like her caring for you."

"One paper and one comic book," Lee grumbled, giving him a small amount of change.

He handed them to her with another smile, which Lee never returned. He was like all the other naive idiots in her neighborhood. He wouldn't call Smirt a 'good woman' if he saw the welts and scars underneath her hoodie. She left the newsstand and went back to the loft.

"Another idiot that believes that woman a saint," Lee grumbled, reading the paper.

She'd need to make sure she knew the stories if she was going to help the younger girls practice their reading with it. Lee fell into a trance while reading about the mayoral election and the new policies that were being put in place. On one page, there was a new policy about domestic abuse. She quickly took that page and stuffed it by her cash box. No need to get the girls' hopes up until there was more information.

Lee was shocked out of her trance when she heard the sound of a motorcycle outside. She got down from the loft and saw a huge man with a burly beard walk up to their building. The other girls quickly huddled around Lee.

"Is he an adopter?"

"Will one of us get to leave?"

"Who is he?"

"Girls, stop. I don't know. If I did I would answer," Lee replied softly. "We'll know in due time. Tillie, what do you hear at the vent?"

"Nothing much," Tillie answered. "He says he from a school in England. Do think one of us got a scholarship?"

"For what?! Smirt wouldn't apply any of us for a scholarship!" Another girl replied.

"Keep quiet," Lee hissed. "If Smirt finds out all of us are listening I won't be able to take all the heat, and someone else will get the lashes."

The girls all remained quiet at Lee's statement. They all knew Lee was right. She somehow managed to keep Smirt from giving anybody else the treatment she got, but if all of them got caught, Smirt would go for more than just Lee.

"Smirt's coming up!" Tillie warned.

"Everybody get to your bed!" Lee ordered, getting back up to the loft.

All of the girls were in their beds pretending to sleep when a woman with graying, black hair came in.

"Lee!" She barked. "Come down from the loft, you have a visitor!"

Lee obliged quickly and went down to the woman's office. The first floor looked much nicer than the top floor, mostly because no one except Smirt and the girls went upstairs. Her office was dark, with a window sitting behind the desk. The giant man sat in a chair in front of her desk. Lee stood next to the wall, waiting for an explanation. No one ever wanted to adopt her; she was considered a delinquent.

"Lee, this is Mr. Rubeus Hagrid," she said, suddenly sweet.

"Please, jus' call me Hagrid," he replied.

"What do you want with me?" Lee asked, sounding a bit harsh.

Smirt glared at her. Lee's tone would earn her a punishment, probably just cleaning the bathrooms.

"I'm from a school called Hogwarts. And we would like to inform you that you've been accepted."

Lee's heart did a cartwheel. She waited for him to continue.

"It's a boardin' school in England for gifted children," he said. "An' our headmaster wishes for you to attend. It's for ages eleven to seventeen."

"I'm sorry, but Lee will not attend," Smirt said. "She's much too precious to this institution."

"I'm sorry Ms. Smirt, but seein' as Lee has no parents, and is a ward o' the state, it's her choice. An' Hogwarts has a special fund set up fer her."

"I'll go," Lee answered quickly, getting a strange look from Hagrid and a glare from Smirt.

"Don't ye wan' some time to think?" Hagrid asked.

"I've thought plenty!" Lee replied eagerly.

⬩Harmony sat at the dinner table with her parents. They hadn't said anything about the letter the entire evening. She couldn't stand waiting anymore.

"So what do we do about Hogwarts?" Harmony asked.

"I told you she wouldn't forget, honey," her mother replied.

"You haven't said anything all day," Harmony continued.

"We talked to everyone around and they think we should send you to Hogwarts," her father answered. "Everyone except your tutor. He thinks it would be more beneficial for you to stay here."

"But I want to go to Hogwarts," Harmony pushed. "Besides, where else will I learn to do magic? Don't answer that."

"I don't think Harmony's tutor should decide if she should or shouldn't go," her mother replied.

Harmony let out an inner sigh of relief. She wanted this so bad! A wizarding school?! How often does a kid get that opportunity?! Granted, she was a very big procrastinator.

"Harmony, how bad do you really want this?" Her father asked.

"Really bad," Harmony answered. "I might even not procrastinate at my school work!"

"You are serious about this," her mother laughed. "We should send her. This is a rare chance for her to have a semblance of a normal school life before she has to take the job."

Her father sighed and nodded his head. Harmony squealed for joy and hugged her parents. She was going to Hogwarts! She was going to be a witch!

"We'll go to Diagon Alley in a few days to get your supplies," her mother said. "But there a few ground rules we'll need to lay down for you while you're at school."

Lee began packing her tiny rucksack of her few possessions. The other girls watched solemnly as she put her last pieces of clothing in her bag. Lee grabbed a small shoebox full of comic books and newspapers. As she descended from the loft she handed the box to Tillie.

"I can't give you the cash box," Lee said. "But you'll be able to find it."

"Do you have to go?" Tillie asked sorrowfully.

"Tillie, you and I both know I'll never be adopted," Lee answered. "And I'm the only person Smirt would ever dare lash."

"But we need you."

"You have the Colters. They'll look after you."

Lee gave her best friend one last hug and walked out to meet Hagrid. She placed her rucksack in the side car and ran across the deserted street to the bakery. Mr. and Mrs. Colter were looking through the window. Lee ran inside and gave them a hug before leaving.

"Is this sack all ye got?" Hagrid asked.

"Yeah," Lee said bluntly, getting in the side car.

Hagrid started the motorcycle and they rode through the streets of Chicago.

"So what school am I going to?" Lee asked. "And what makes me so gifted?"

Hagrid pulled into a parking lot of a small inn. He pulled a small letter from his coat and gave it Lee. She opened it cautiously and read it carefully. It seriously said she was a witch?

"Okay, what kind of joke is this?" Lee snapped.

"It's not a joke," Hagrid answered. "Yer a witch. Hogwarts is a school where ye'll learn to do magic."

"There's no such thing as magic," Lee snapped.

"Le' me ask ye somethin' Lee," Hagrid replied. "Has somethin' strange ever happened around ye that ye couldn' explain? Like when yer angry or scared?"

Lee thought back on all the times she'd ever been lashed. Every time it ever happened, an hour later she'd feel something warm pass over her body, and instead of being unable to move, the welts would heal just enough for her to get up. Hagrid must've seen her thinking, because he smiled at her

"Yer not a normal person Lee," he said warmly. "Yer a witch, an' one day you could be a great one."

Hagrid resumed driving and Lee sat in silence, just thinking. Maybe now she could figure out who her parents were and why they left her at that awful place. Against her better judgement, Lee eventually fell asleep in the side car. She didn't notice when the motorcycle started flying over the country that had been her home. She was still asleep as they flew over the ocean to England.

⬩Harmony was so excited that she wasn't sure she could fall asleep. She would finally go to a real school. Maybe she'd make a new friend or two!

"Harmony, you need to be asleep," her father said, poking his head in her bedroom.

"But I'm so excited!" She exclaimed. "How's a girl supposed to sleep when there's something so fun just around the corner?!"

"I'm glad that you're excited, but you need sleep. You're still just eleven. You shouldn't be pulling all nighters until you're fifteen."

"I've pulled plenty of all nighters!" Harmony argued. "Besides isn't that what coffee's for?"

Harmony's father smiled and put her back in her bed.

"I don't know if your mother would laugh or scold me for teaching you to rely on coffee," he chuckled. "Now get some sleep. It's supposed to be a long day tomorrow."

Harmony finally obliged to her father's wishes and tried to go to sleep. He left and turned off her light. Eventually, she sank into a serene sleep.


	2. Diagon Alley

**Chapter Two: Diagon Alley**

Hagrid left Lee at a place called the Leaky Cauldron for a day while he went to pick up another student. He had shown Lee how to get into Diagon Alley, which she gladly explored. Everything fascinated her, but nothing drew her attention more than a building near the apothecary. It was a large, lavish building. It's sign said it was a shop for tamers of magical creatures. She spent the entire day looking at the creatures inside. There were so many fascinating creatures, Lee wanted to see them all, but the manager ushered her out as the Alley closed for the night.

The next day Hagrid returned. Lee met him by the door. He had a boy with him. The boy had untidy, black hair, round glasses, vibrant, green eyes and a lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

"Cool scar you've got there," Lee said blandly.

"Thanks," the boy said shyly. "My name's Harry. Harry Potter."

"My name's Lee," she replied more cheerfully.

She could tell that she liked this kid. He seemed like her, but not in appearance. Hagrid led them through the bar area.

"Ah, Hagrid," the bartender said. "The usual, eh?"

"Not today Tom," Hagrid answered. "I'm jus' takin' young Harry and Lee here to get their school supplies."

"Why bless my soul," Tom replied, awestruck. "It's Harry Potter."

For some reason, this turned all of the heads in the room on them, or rather, Harry. People came up, shaking hands with him, welcoming him back. Had he been here before? Lee got her answer as the went out to the alley with a brick wall. Harry and Hagrid had been talking.

"How do all those people know who I am?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid I'm not the person to tell ye tha' Harry," Hagrid answered, taping the code to enter Diagon Alley.

Lee still thought the magical entrance was incredible, but the look on Harry's face was priceless.

"Welcome Harry, to Diagon Alley," Hagrid said, leading them into the Alley.

⬩Harmony was up and out of bed quickly in the morning, unlike yesterday. She tamed her hair and put on a fresh set of clothes. Her mother was shocked to find her already awake.

"You must be very excited," she chuckled.

"Are we going to Diagon Alley today?" Harmony asked eagerly. "I know you said we would go in a few days, but this is too exciting."

"Slow down, honey," her mother answered. "We'll see if we can go later today, but first, your father needs to go through some more paperwork."

"Do I have to get the job when I get older?" Harmony complained. "It's all just paperwork."

"It's not just paperwork," her mother replied. "Now, since you're up, why don't you clean up your room. It's quite the pit."

Harmony reluctantly followed her mother's instructions. She put herself in that position by getting out of bed. Stupid excitement, causing her to get up at a prompt time. She picked up an old pile of papers and went through them, throwing away all of the junk, which was basically all of it. Harmony soon became buried under old papers, trying to get them into a paper shredder. She was startled to hear a knock on her door. Her mother stood in the doorway and smiled at her daughter.

"I can see that the cleaning is a huge success," she said. "How much of that are you trying to shred?"

"All of it," Harmony answered. "It's not like all of this old junk can be recycled."

"No, it can't," she sighed in response. "All right Harm, c'mon, we're going to Diagon Alley."

"Really?!" Harmony cried, jumping up, sending all of the papers flying.

Her mother just laughed and led Harmony down to a fireplace.

"What are we using?" Harmony asked.

"It's called Floo Powder. It's a little messy, but we'll manage."

Her mother took some of the powder and threw it into the fireplace, saying Diagon Alley. Green flames shot up in the fireplace, and she led her daughter through. The experience was a little uncomfortable. Harmony felt like it was trying to suffocate her, when they stopped they were in a huge alley of shops. There was a huge, white, marble building at the end. The giant letters on it said "Gringotts".

Harmony's mother held her hand and led her towards the huge building. Inside there were many, small creatures working at the desks.

"They're goblins, sweetie," her mother said. "Not unlike some creatures we've met before."

They walked up to one of the desks and Harmony's mother began a conversation with one of the goblins.

"We'd like to start a vault," she said. "Nothing big, just a savings account."

She handed the goblin a purse filled with Euros that Harmony's parents had collected for her to use for school supplies.

"And we'd like about sixty of those back in the wizard currency please," her mother said curtly.

As the goblin was working with her, Harmony looked around the giant bank. She saw a big, burly man with two small children at the front desk. One was a boy, the other was a girl. The goblin handed the girl a small sack of coins and the man and the boy followed the goblin somewhere else.

"Now Lee, ye can go an' buy yer supplies, an' we'll meet ye at the Leaky Cauldron," the man said to her, before leaving.

Harmony noticed that all the girl did was nod before turning around and leaving. That girl seemed kind of strange. Harmony jumped when she felt her mother place her hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon, let's go get your robes," her mother suggested, leading her out of the bank.

Madame Malkin's was a nice little shop. The store owner was nice and she tailored Harmony's robes nicely so that she could grow in them just a little.

"You look so cute in your robes," her mother said.

"Mom," Harmony groaned. "Don't say I'm cute. It's embarrassing."

"Mothers are supposed to embarrass their children."

They continued walking through the alley, getting all of the necessary noticed the girl from the bank again. There was something about her that piqued her interest.

Lee walked around the alley quietly. The fund Hogwarts had set up for her was quite generous. Hagrid had told her it would be enough to get everything she needed. The first shop she went into was the wand shop. It was called Ollivander's. It was kind of small, and the shelves were packed with small, long boxes.

The man that met her had white hair, that stood up like Einstein's. He looked really old, and Lee just stood silently at the counter.

"Hello there, I am Ollivander," he said. "I assume you're here for a wand."

Lee nodded her head and waited for him to tell her which one she needed.

"Which arm is your wand arm?" He asked.

"My right arm?" Lee answered, unsure if he meant her dominant arm.

He pulled out a tape measure that took measurements on its own. He wrote down what the tape measure got for the various lengths it measured on Lee's body.

"Your name is Lee, correct?" Ollivander asked as he pulled a wand box out.

"Yes," Lee answered curtly.

"You seem like a very reserved child for being only eleven," Ollivander continued. "May I ask why?"

"It's none of your business why," Lee snapped.

"No need to get snappy," Ollivander replied calmly. "I am just being curious."

Ollivander placed the box on the counter and handed Lee a small wand.

"This is an oak wand, unicorn hair, 8 ¾ inches, very springy, and very good in charms."

Lee held the wand in her hands and looked at Ollivander. He gave her a motion, telling her to flick it. Lee followed his instruction and noticed that a window cracked.

"No, not the wand for you," Ollivander said, waving his own wand to repair the window.

He put the wand back in its box and pulled out another one.

"This one is rowan, dragon heartstring, it's much more stiff and useful for defensive spells."

Lee gave this one a flick, but it instead broke a lamp on the wall.

"Not this one either," Ollivander muttered, repairing the lamp. "It seems that you'll be another difficult customer, Lee."

Ollivander gave Lee a number of other wands to try. The woods varied from hawthorne to ash and the cores would jump around. Finally, Ollivander sighed and pulled out another box and showed the wand to Lee. It was different from the other wands. On the end of the handle, there was a small claw.

"This wand is made of elder," Ollivander said to her. "It has a core of dragon heartstring, 10 ½ inches long. It is very useful for offensive spells."

"Is there something special about this wand?" Lee asked suspiciously.

"Wands made of elder are all considered special," Ollivander answered, handing Lee the wand.

Lee felt a warmth pass through her hand. It wasn't unlike when she would heal after a lashing. It was such a pleasant and familiar feeling that she smiled at it, welcoming the feeling.

"It appears that this would be your wand," Ollivander told Lee. "These kinds of wands can be very picky. I expect great things from you."

Lee looked at the man uneasily and paid for her wand. She left and continued shopping for her supplies. As she finished shopping, she saw that she had a decent bit of money left. Lee left her stuff in the room she had at the Leaky Cauldron and went back to the strange building by the apothecary.

"Coming back for more looking?" The owner joked. "Sorry kid, but you can't purchase anything without a proper license from the Dragon Riders Guild."

"Well, how do I get a license?" Lee asked.

"There's a test in november," the owner answered, a little surprised at Lee's audacity. "But first years usually only get a lizard class license."

"Are there any materials I can use to study?" Lee asked again.

The owner pointed her to a shelf by the front. It was full of books all on the topic of training a magical creature. Lee picked up a large, red book that covered all the different kinds of stuff that would be on this test. The price was surprisingly cheap. It was only a few sickles. She eagerly purchased it and asked one final question.

"What's the highest rank you can get for a license?"

"That's a dragon class license," the owner answered. "They're very difficult to get, and they're only given to a select few every year."

Lee nodded in thanks and took her book back to the Leaky Cauldron and met with Harry and Hagrid. That's when she learned about Voldemort, and Harry's family.

Harmony was thrilled with the day of shopping she and her mother had done. There was just one last thing they needed to do, and that was to get Harmony's wand.

Mr. Ollivander seemed like a pleasant fellow. He took measurements of Harmony and pulled out a box.

"This wand is 7 ¾ inches long, apple wood, and phoenix tail feather," Ollivander told Harmony. "Give it a wave and we'll see what happens."

Harmony did as he asked and waved the wand. Unfortunately, it blew a few dozen wand boxes off the shelves.

"Clearly not the wand for you," he said, putting the boxes back onto the shelf. "Perhaps this one will do better."

He pulled out another wand for Harmony to try. She didn't pay attention to Ollivander's words about the wand and flicked it. The wand caused a nearby plant to burst into flames that Ollivander quickly extinguished before taking the wand back.

"It seems that these wands are a little too springy," Ollivander commented. "Perhaps this wand will work. Ebony, phoenix tail feather, 9 inches long."

Harmony took this wand and felt it warm up in her fingertips. It was a good sensation, and she smiled at her mother.

"Well, you're definitely one of the easiest customers I've had today," Ollivander told her. "I'm hoping this wand chose well."

Harmony looked at him curiously as they payed and left Ollivander's. They went back to their home in Italy using Floo Powder again, and this time, Harmony was ready for the uncomfortable feeling while they traveled. Her mother placed all of the newly bought supplies in a clean corner of her room and they sat down for dinner with Harmony's father.

"We'll need to go to London again on September first," her mother said. "Harmony's train will leave at eleven."

"We can all go, I think I have a business meeting later on that day," her father replied.

"What do you think the school's like?" Harmony asked.

"I'm sure it's very fun, and you'll meet lots of new friends," her mother answered. "And don't forget to visit on the holidays."

"I won't. But, what kind of classes are at Hogwarts?"

"You'll find out when you get there," her father answered. "We don't really know much about Hogwarts, so we can't really answer your questions."

Harmony rolled her eyes a little and finished her dinner. It was going to be a long wait for September.

"Are ye sure ye don't want te go back te Chicago Lee?" Hagrid asked as he was about to leave with Harry.

"I'm absolutely positive," Lee answered firmly. "Besides, I'll be fine staying here. Tom can look after me anyways."

Hagrid had been asking her ever since he talked about taking Harry back to his aunt and uncle's house. She didn't ever want to see that place again if she could help it.

"Just take Harry home," Lee pushed. "It's not like I'm going to get lost wandering in an alley behind an inn."

Finally, Hagrid consented to leaving Lee with Tom. Lee found it just a little bit irritating that Hagrid was looking over her shoulder so much. She would be staying here for a while until she had to go catch the train. Before Hagrid could leave she asked him a question.

"Hagrid, this says platform 9 and ¾. Is there a mistake in the ticket?" She asked.

"No Lee," Hagrid answered. "Ye get onto the platform by going between the nine and ten barrier at the train station. We best be going. See you at school Lee."

After that, Hagrid left Lee at the inn. She waited, entertaining herself with studying for one of those licenses. Her eyes were set for the top.


	3. Hogwarts at Last

**Chapter Three: Hogwarts at Last**

Harmony was bouncing off the walls as she and her family entered King's Cross Station. She was so close to Hogwarts, and she was ready to go. As she pushed her trolley, her father was looking for the right platform.

"I wish the letter had come with instructions to get to the train," he muttered. "It would make this much easier."

"Don't worry Dad, we'll find it," Harmony replied. "If I'm the person being optimistic then you know we will."

"That may also be due to your overexcitement," her father countered.

Harmony ignored her father and pushed her trolley further ahead. As she was listening, she heard someone say the word 'muggle'.

"Hey Mom," she said. "Isn't 'muggle' the word wizards use for people without magic?"

"Yes, why?"

"I heard somebody say it," Harmony answered, following the person she heard.

When the person stopped, Harmony saw them run through one of the barriers.

"I figured out how to get into the platform," Harmony said back to her parents.

"Great job honey," her father replied. "Unfortunately, we can't see you off on the train. We need to leave now to make it to the meeting. We love you Harmony!"

Her parents departed without another word. Harmony turned to the barrier and decided to run straight at it. She expected to hit the wall, but instead she appeared on a platform. It was her platform.

Harmony heaved her trunk onto the train and looked for an empty compartment. Most of them already seemed filled. Still, She continued her search.

Lee sat quietly in the corner of her compartment. She had gotten to the train early, wanting to avoid the crowds and seeing all of the parents with their children. Something about seeing a happy family made her bitter. The conductor hadn't been expecting passengers to show up so early, and he helped Lee with her trunk, which was very light.

Lee kept her head buried in her book. She didn't notice when someone entered her compartment. Only when the stranger cleared her throat did she look up.

"Can I help you?" Lee asked in her usual tone.

"Yes, you can," the stranger said. "Get my trunk up on the luggage rack."

"Miss, do I look like your personal servant?" Lee snapped, going back to her book.

"In rags like yours, I would say yes."

Lee's clothes weren't all that great. She was wearing her usual hoodie, some worn out jeans and her ratty sneakers. She kept her eyes in her book and made another snarky remark.

"This is the latest fashion trend in Chicago," Lee replied. "Besides, why should I 'serve' someone I don't know?"

"The name is Pansy Parkinson."

Lee rolled her eyes. She couldn't stand people like this. They were so arrogant and rude.

"Well, Ms. Parkinson," Lee said coolly. "Seeing as I was here first, go find your own compartment. I hate rude people."

Pansy gave Lee a look of fury and left in a huff. Lee smirked to herself and became absorbed in her book again. She felt the train move an hour later, but didn't bother to look out the window. It's not like anybody would wave to her.

Harmony was still trying to find a compartment after the train left. Most of them already had crowds of people in them. As she was walking, She bumped into a shorter girl. Her hair was black like her's, and her skin was a mixed tone.

"Sorry," Harmony said. "I wasn't looking in front of me."

"It's fine," the girl said. "Are you trying to find a compartment too?"

"Yeah, all of them seem really full."

"There might still be some at the front of the train," she replied, leading Harmony further down the hall. "I'm Kaede by the way. Kaede Kino."

"I'm Harmony."

Kaede and Harmony went up to some of the front compartments and found one that seemed empty. They put their trunks on the luggage rack and jumped in surprise when they saw a girl in an old hoodie, reading in the corner.

"Sorry," Kaede said. "We didn't know anyone else was in here."

The girl said nothing. She just grunted in acknowledgement.

Kaede and Harmony sat across from the girl. There was an awkward silence between the three girls. Kaede and Harmony glanced at each other, neither knowing who should start conversation.

"So, I'm Kaede," she started. "What's your name?"

"Lee," the mystery girl muttered.

"You don't sound like you're from around here," Harmony commented.

"I'm from Chicago," Lee replied.

"That's interesting," Kaede said, trying to continue the conversation. "I'm from Japan."

Lee didn't say anything in response and just kept reading in her book. Harmony thought this was a little bit rude. They were trying to start a conversation, get to know this person.

"So, Lee, what are you reading?" Harmony asked, pushing for more conversation.

"A book," Lee answered blatantly.

This girl must not be a social person.

"What's your book about?" Kaede asked.

"Magical creatures."

"You know, you could put the book down and start a real conversation," Harmony chided. "Does every person from Chicago act like this or are you just rude?"

Lee looked up from her book. Harmony could've sworn she saw her eyes turn completely black, but when she blinked they were blue again. To her surprise, Lee smirked.

"You've got a lot of spunk," Lee said, closing her book for the first time. "I like people with spunk. And, no, most people in the city don't act like this, but let's just say, I grew up in a neighborhood similar to the projects."

"So, Lee, what's your family like?" Kaede asked, trying for normal conversation.

It was a mistake to ask that question, because Lee's smirk quickly vanished.

"I don't have a family," Lee answered.

"I'm sorry," Kaede said quickly, with sincerity. "I don't really have any parents. See, it's just me and my sister."

Lee looked at the two girls sitting across from her. They seemed like nice kids. They might be people worth opening up to, but that would take time.

"So, why are you reading about magical creatures?" Harmony asked, trying to change the somewhat depressing topic.

"I'm interested in getting a training license from the Dragon Riders Guild," Lee answered. "I found out about it while I was in Diagon Alley, and let's just say they got my interest immediately."

"That sounds cool," Kaede exclaimed. "I was never really one for animals. I prefer working with plants. And...astronomy."

Before their conversation could continue, a girl with brown hair and glasses came into their compartment.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to burst in on you," she said quickly. "I'm Sarah, and I may or may not need a small refuge."

"Refuge from what?" Lee asked.

"One of my prank victims?" Sarah answered sheepishly.

Before either of the girls could inquire further, Sarah sat down next to Lee and made herself look inconspicuous. A pale kid with blonde hair went rushing past their compartment. His face was splattered with a yellow slime.

"Nice slime," Lee commented. "How'd you make it?"

"Some random, spare potion ingredients from my Kaede," Sarah answered.

"That doesn't seem very nice," Kaede interjected. "What did he do to deserve something like that?"

"He's your typical, prejudiced bully," Sarah replied. "I'm a muggleborn, and he went off, calling me a mudblood. I don't know what it means, but it's an insult for sure."

"It's a good prank," Lee said, "Though, I do believe your slime did not have just the right density. You need to make sure it's just like syrup. Which is why my slime would usually have that as the main ingredient."

"You prank people?" Harmony asked. "You don't seem like the type."

"I dabbled in it, but Smirt, my orphanage director, caught me once," Lee replied. "Let's just say I wasn't fond of getting that punishment again."

"So, what are your names?" Sarah asked.

"I'm Kaede, that's Harmony, and this is Lee."

"Well ladies, I think this train ride is the start of quite a beautiful friendship," Sarah stated gleefully.

The girls all enjoyed the train ride, laughing at jokes, talking about where they were from, and what they were hoping for at this school. They were laughing at one of Sarah's cheesy jokes as the snack trolley pulled up to their compartment.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" A little, old woman asked.

Lee pulled out the last few sickles she had. She had never had any candy before, but she couldn't spend her money frivolously. Lee finally decided to put the sickles back in her pocket.

"You don't want to get anything?" Sarah asked.

"No," Lee answered. "I don't know how much is still in my fund."

"The school gave you a fund?" Kaede asked. "That's really nice of them."

"Yeah, and it was enough to buy everything brand new, but I think I really should save it."

"Well screw saving my money," Harmony said, pulling out some of her own sickles. "We'll take four chocolate frogs and four pumpkin pasties."

The lady gave Harmony the sweets and she sat back down and gave her friends one of each.

"Thanks," Lee said, looking at the two sweets.

"It's no biggie," Harmony replied. "Everybody needs something sweet at some point."

Lee gave a genuine smile for the first time as she opened the chocolate frog. All of the girls were surprised when it jumped out of the box and onto the window. Lee grabbed it and held it in her fingers for a second.

"So, is this edible?" She asked.

"How will we ever find out if you don't eat it?" Sarah replied with a shrug.

All of them shrugged with Sarah, and Lee popped the frog into her mouth. Harmony laughed at her face.

"It won't stop squirming!" Lee said the closed teeth. "I can't bite it!"

The three girls broke into fits of giggles at their friend's valiant attempt to keep the frog in her mouth. Finally, Lee swallowed it whole.

"Those frogs are certainly entertaining," Kaede commented. "Especially when someone else is eating them."

"You have to eat them like this," Sarah replied, holding the frog in her fingers and biting off the head. "Then it won't squirm."

The girls enjoyed their sweets and changed into their school robes. As the train neared its destination, they became more excited. When they got off onto the platform in Hogsmeade Village, Lee recognized the huge, booming voice.

"First years!" Hagrid called. "First years, follow me!"

Lee led her new friends over to Hagrid. They all gazed up at him, surprised at his enormous height.

"Hi Hagrid!" Lee called up cheerfully.

"Well hello there Lee," he replied. "Are these yer new friends?"

Her friends nodded up at him, their mouths still agape.

"That's Sarah, Kaede and Harmony," Lee said, gesturing to each of her friends.

"It's nice to see yer makin' friends."

Hagrid led them to the shore of a gigantic lake. Lee, Harmony, Sarah and Kaede got into a boat with each other. As they sailed across the lake, they were astounded by the castle that came into view. They smiled, waiting for the new adventures that were sure to come. As the boats pulled up to the shore of the castle, the first years followed Hagrid to a giant entrance hall. Hagrid was then dismissed by a very stern-looking woman.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "I am Professor McGonagall. Shortly, you shall all be sorted into your houses. You should know that throughout the year, the houses earn points and the house with the most points wins the house cup. Good behavior shall be rewarded, any rule breaking, and you will lose points."

The students glanced at each other with excitement and nervousness. Lee heard a red head say they were supposed to fight a troll. She seriously doubted they would. She turned and saw Harry with the red head. She decided she'd say hi.

"Hey Harry," Lee said.

"Hi Lee," Harry replied. "Lee, this is my friend Ron. Ron, this is my friend Lee."

"Pleasure to meet you," Lee told Ron.

"So, it's true then," A boy called across the hall. "What they were saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

Lee recognized the kid. It was Sarah's prank victim. It appeared that he had gotten the slime off his face. He was shouldered by two, big brutes.

"This is Crabbe, and Goyle," he said. "And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Ron chuckled next to her.

"Think my name's funny, do you?" He replied. "No need to ask your's. Red hair and a hand-me-down robe. You must be a Weasley."

Ron's face got a shade redder. Lee could now see why Sarah had slimed this kid. He was a complete jerk.

"You'll soon find that some wizarding families are better than others Potter," Draco said pompously. "You don't want to make friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

"I think I can tell the right sort for myself, thanks," Harry answered cooly.

The look of disgust on Malfoy's face made Lee want to punch him. As he stalked off, Lee turned back to Harry and Ron.

"I've got to go find my friends," Lee told them. "I'll see you later Harry. Nice meeting you, Ron."

When Lee rejoined her friends, they were being led into the Great Hall. It had four tables lined up, and one long table up at the very front of the room. While they were walking up, Lee turned to Sarah.

"I can see why you slimed that kid," she whispered. "He's got quite the attitude."

"That would be putting it lightly," Sarah replied.

"Very lightly."

The first year students lined up at the front. There was a stool with a ratty, old hat sitting on it. The students were a little confused. How were they being sorted?

"When I call your name," Professor McGonagall said. "You will come forward and I shall place the sorting hat on your head."

That seemed pretty straight forward. The first student was called forward. It was a girl named Hannah Abbot, and the hat put her in Hufflepuff. The list moved along smoothly. There were some students the hat took awhile to place. Others, the hat barely had to touch their head. The first of their friends that was called up was Sarah. The hat sat on her head for awhile.

"You have quite the mind," the hat said. "But you're not full of a thirst for knowledge… Very well, Gryffindor!"

Sarah went to a table on the far right of the room. The table had erupted in cheers and received her warmly. The sorting continued and very soon, the boy, Draco Malfoy was called up. The hat didn't even touch his head before it called out Slytherin. They heard somebody yell something from the crowd.

"Boo!" A voice shouted.

The three friends and turned to see Sarah trying to hide a mischievous smile from her seat. The three friends locked eyes with Sarah.

"I have no clue who said that," Sarah mouthed to them.

"Sure you don't," Lee mouthed back.

Lee, Harmony and Kaede waited patiently. The hat took a while with Harry before calling out Gryffindor. The next of the friend group called up was Harmony.

"You are quite interesting," the hat said. "Perhaps your fit is...Slytherin!"

Harmony shrugged her shoulders and joined the table. She sat away from the boy Sarah pranked. She didn't like him, not from what Sarah and Lee had said. Why did she trust those two so much? She hadn't even known them a day!

Kaede was called next. The hat didn't take much time thinking about where to put her.

"Ravenclaw!" It shouted, after a few seconds on her head.

Lee stood in the midst of the students for awhile. As the crowd thinned, Lee knew she would be the last person called. After they got through the z's, Lee heard her name.

"Lee!" The Professor called.

She walked up to the hat with no tentativeness. As it sat on her head, she thought she heard herself battling with other voices.

"What is life without the ambition to find your power?" One voice asked.

"No, life needs loyalty to friends," another chimed.

"Why can't I choose?" Lee said. "It's my life."

"Power is where you need to go," The first voice said, louder this time. "Have the ambition to find it! You don't need loyalty or bravery!"

"Slytherin!" The hat finally called.

Lee walked over to that table and sat next to Harmony, somewhat confused. What had happened in the hat? She didn't dwell on it any longer, for the food soon appeared. There was more than Lee had ever eaten in a month! She piled her plate high and smiled at Harmony.

"This food looks delicious," Lee said, stuffing her mouth full of food.

"Please don't act like a pig," Harmony joked.

"Sorry," Lee replied, swallowing the mouthful of food. "I've never had food this good before."

Harmony chuckled at her friend. She was eating like there was no tomorrow. Harmony was actually quite happy Lee was put in Slytherin with her. It was nice to have a friend in the house with her.

Sarah was a little disappointed. She was really hoping for one of her friends to be in Gryffindor with her. She would still see them in classes and free time, but it wouldn't be the same. Sarah turned to the girl Hermione and began talking with her.

Kaede was happy with the house she landed in. She had expected something like Ravenclaw. Though, her knowledge might be considered...more advanced than the other students'. Kaede turned and began talking with another girl at the table.

Lee and Harmony got up with everyone else at their table and followed the crowd. They were unsure of where they were going. A fifth year student led them down into the dungeons. He stopped at a stone wall.

"Ophidia Serpentes," the student said.

At his words, the stone wall moved, revealing an entrance. The first years entered, and it was a large room. There were shades of green everywhere. Lee found that it was quite cold and noticed a fireplace with the emblem of the house hanging above the mantle. The room was also somewhat dimly lit.

"Welcome to the Slytherin common room," the student announced. "The girls dorms are down the stairs and to the left, boys, it's the same on the right."

Lee and Harmony followed the student's instructions and found the first year dorm. There were eight four-poster beds. Lee found the bed with her trunk underneath it. Lee pulled off her robe and put her hoodie over her shirt. It was practically freezing!

"Why's your hoodie so ratty?" A girl giggled.

"I'll bet it's because 'it's the latest fashion trend in New York,'" Another girl that Lee recognized replied.

"Of all the people, why did I have to get stuck with you?" Lee groaned. "And I'm from Chicago, idiot."

"Show some respect," Pansy snapped. "There's one boss in this dorm, and it's me. Isn't that right Millicent?"

"You bet," the girl answered.

"Why don't you leave Lee alone," Harmony snapped at them. "If you wanna be snobs, go do it somewhere else."

The two girls left the dorm with scowls. Lee smiled gratefully at Harmony. Why did she feel compelled to stand up for Lee? Sure, Harmony hated jerks, but she never made it her business to stop bullies.

"You don't have a lot of clothes, do you?" Harmony asked, seeing Lee's trunk half empty.

"No," she answered. "Hey, thanks for that. If they had kept it up I would've eventually punched them."

Harmony shrugged, and they went back into the common room. Lee sat in an armchair by the fire with her book. She was seriously dedicated to getting a license. Harmony sat in a chair next to her, playing with her wand. They sat in silence for awhile. Harmony didn't mind it, there was nothing wrong with things being quiet. Unfortunately, that silence was broken by a boy walking up to them.

"You were hanging around Potter, weren't you?" He asked Lee.

"So what if I was?" Lee answered.

"Just curious," The boy replied. "So, why are you reading about all the magical creatures?"

"Because, I'm applying for a license," Lee answered again, getting annoyed.

"Wow, you're parents must be big nature people then."

"You know what, I'm done with this," Lee replied, getting up and going back to the dorm.

"Probably shouldn't mention parents around her," Harmony said to the boy. "It's a very...sore subject."

Harmony went back to playing with her wand. She decided that she'd wait before going to bed. That might've been a mistake, because ten minutes later Pansy came back from the dorm, clutching her nose. A professor with a hook nose and greasy black hair went up to her. Harmony couldn't help but overhear.

"Ms. Parkinson, what happened?" He asked coldly.

"She punched me!" Pansy shrieked, revealing a bloody nose. "That girl in the dorm, Lee, punched me!"

The professor asked a prefect to get Lee from her dorm. She came back with Lee in tow. Harmony noticed that something was wrong. Lee's fists were clenched, and her glare was focused solely on Pansy.

"Explain yourself, ms…?" The professor said, waiting for Lee's name.

"Lee," she answered, but she saw he wanted a last name. "Just Lee."

"Ah, you're that student," The professor replied. "Explain yourself."

"She made fun of my clothes, then she went on to insult me, where I'm from, my 'blood status', whatever crap that is," Lee explained. "Then she finally said insults about my parents. So I decided to make her shut it."

"Yeah, I'll bet your parents are low-lifes," Pansy snapped. "Why did they even send you here? You'll just shame them even more, and I'll bet you're-"

"SHUT UP!" Lee yelled, cutting her off. "SHUT UP! You don't know anything about me!"

"Well, they didn't say your last name at the sorting, so I'm assuming your family was to ashamed to let others hear it," Pansy snapped.

"I don't have a last name you little twit!" Lee finally snapped.

"Everyone has a last name," Pansy retorted. "You just don't want to say it."

"No, I'm from an orphanage," Lee snapped again. "Now, I'm tired, I'm going to bed."

Harmony watched Lee storm out of the room. That girl sure had a temper. Harmony shrugged it off and decided that maybe she should go to bed to. When Harmony entered the dorm, Lee's sheets were pulled around the bed.

" _Well, if I were her I'd want some privacy too,_ " Harmony thought, as she got into bed.

As she fell into sleep, Harmony began dreaming.

"This is unusual," Harmony said. "I don't normally dream."

She watched as the dream took form. Harmony saw Kaede and Lee in the forest. There was a giant dragon with light blue scales and red under scales. The red scales formed a shield pattern, which she found odd. There were other odd things about the dream too. The dragon was chained, there was a man there, and he was battling with Kaede. What was this? Harmony wasn't the creative type, why was she dreaming something like this?

Harmony kept watching; the dream seemed to go on forever.

"Lee, you need to get out of here!" Kaede called.

"I'm not leaving without Aero Shield!" Lee replied. "He asked me for help, I won't leave him!"

"You're surprisingly stubborn for an eleven-year-old!"

What happened next astonished Harmony. Kaede transformed into a girl in a sailor's suit, and she battled the man that had captured the dragon. Lee had black mist coming from her hands, destroying the dragon's chains.

"Lee, look out!" Kaede yelled as a knife went flying towards her.

Before she could see what else happened, Harmony was awake in her bed. The sheets around her had cold sweat all over them. Lee was standing above Harmony, concerned.

"Are you OK?" She asked. "You were groaning in your sleep."

"Yeah…I'm fine," Harmony replied. "What time is it?"

"Sometime after three in the morning. Do you think you can sleep some more?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You should go back to bed."

When Lee fell asleep again, Harmony got up and went to the common room. An owl was there with a letter for her.

"Did you posses Chrome's owl again?" She asked it, taking the letter. "She'll kill you when she finds out."

The owl gave a gesture that was like a shrug and flew off. Harmony shook her head and read her letter. She would be getting a few pieces of paper work; wouldn't she get enough homework from the school as is?

Lee fell asleep pretty quickly after she made sure Harmony was all right. Apparently, bad dreams seemed contagious, because she fell into her own kind of nightmare. The room was completely dark, but soon, light came from two sources. One was pure white, the other was black. Lee wasn't sure what the heck was going on, but they soon attacked each other. When their attacks struck their target, Lee felt a buzz in her head. As this continued, the buzzing became a splitting headache. It became so painful, she thought she would explode!

As they continued attacking Lee felt her arms being pulled out from her body. It was excruciating! What was going on?!

"Stop!" She cried.

There was no indication that she was heard, and she felt herself being ripped apart.


	4. Strange Magic in Strange Girls

**Chapter Four: Strange Magic in Strange Girls**

Lee woke up with an awful headache. She didn't even know it was possible to get a headache from a dream. Lee got into her robes and met Harmony in the Great Hall.

"You look like a mess," Harmony commented.

"I feel like one," Lee replied, rubbing her temples. "I've got this splitting headache. What about you? You seemed a little freaked out last night."

"I wasn't freaked out," Harmony corrected. "I was just a little distracted from my dream."

"What did you dream about?"

"I don't really know," Harmony answered, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Call me crazy, but I think I might've had a vision."

"A vision? You mean, seeing the future? I don't know much about magic, but that seems far fetched."

Harmony shrugged and ate some of her eggs. It sounded crazy to her too. Besides, Lee didn't have mist coming from her hands, and she didn't think Kaede could turn into, whatever she turned into. Maybe it was all just a crazy dream.

"Ready to go?" Lee asked, pulling Harmony out of her thoughts.

"Go where?" She replied.

"Our first charms class," Lee answered. "We need to hurry to get there before the halls fill up."

Lee pulled Harmony from her seat and they went up the corridors.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Harmony asked as Lee led them up a staircase.

"Yes, oddly enough," Lee answered.

They came up to a classroom. A tiny man was standing on top of a stack of books behind his desk. He saw the two girls and squeaked.

"Class doesn't start for another ten minutes," he said, surprised that they were here so early.

"Sorry sir," Lee replied. "We were trying to avoid crowds. I'm Lee, this is Harmony."

"Ahh, Lee," The professor sighed. "Dumbledore informed your teachers about your...situation. All right, you two can take a seat in the back."

Lee sat down, she was practically swallowed by the shadows. Harmony found it odd that her friend melted into them naturally.

"What did he mean by your situation?" Harmony asked her.

"I don't do well in crowds," Lee answered. "So I've got permission to be in class early to avoid any incidents."

"You seemed fine in the common room last night."

"I can manage in small crowds," Lee explained. "There weren't that many people. Crowded hallways, and stuff like that will set me off."

"Why?"

"Well, lots of reasons, one being I just like open spaces," Lee answered again. "Another being that I have claustrophobia and crowds make me feel closed in."

Harmony was about to ask why, but more students started coming in, so she dropped it. The professor, whose name was Flitwick, began as soon as the bell rang. Lee was very attentive, but Harmony eventually dozed off, no longer paying attention. Professor Flitwick talked about the theory of charms and how they would practice wand movements. Harmony was shaken awake by Lee five minutes before the bell rang.

"C'mon, class is over," she whispered.

"For you, but I still wanna listen to this thrilling lecture," Harmony said lazily.

"You and I both know you were falling asleep," Lee retorted, getting Harmony out of her desk. Harmony let her friend pull her out into the hall. They walked down the corridors to their next class, which was herbology.

"So, how's that big book coming for you?" Harmony asked, starting conversation.

"Pretty good, all of the basic principles are so...easy," Lee answered. "Even the complex ones for the higher levels are really basic."

"That seems good," Harmony replied.

"It's not bad," Lee agreed. "But there's probably a much bigger challenge."

Lee and Harmony continued walking down to the greenhouses, then Lee saw something on the ground. It was small and metal. It looked like a key. She stopped and picked it up.

"What's that?" Harmony asked.

"No clue," Lee answered. "I'll bet someone lost it."

As they examined it closer, the key glowed and became red-hot. It burned Lee's hand and she quickly dropped it.

"Jiminey!" She cried. "That hurt!"

"Jiminey?" Harmony chuckled.

"Picked it up from the Colters."

The skin on Lee's palm was red and blistered in the shape of the key. Harmony picked up the object cautiously.

"Maybe you should go to the nurse," Harmony suggested.

Lee nodded in response and was about to walk to the infirmary, when a white mist appeared around her hand and healed the burn. Lee's eyes grew wide at the sight.

"Did you know you could do that?" Harmony asked nervously.

"If I did, would I be surprised?" Lee replied. "This seems like it's not normal for a witch… maybe we shouldn't say anything about it."

Harmony didn't debate with her. They continued walking to the greenhouses in silence. The class was quiet and both girls weren't really paying attention. Their heads were instead, buzzing with what seemed like impossible questions to answer.

The strange magic was not mentioned except for when they told Kaede and Sarah. Both had no answers for what kind of magic it was. It didn't seem to manifest any other times after the incident with the key. Lee kept the strange object hidden in her pocket. Harmony became a little bit concerned, and the strange dream she had came again every few nights. Only when they started flying lessons, did real trouble begin.

"Do you think being in the air will be fun?" Lee asked excitedly.

"I don't know," Harmony answered enthusiastically. "I think I prefer to keep my feet on the ground."

"You're a baby," Lee teased.

"And you're a daredevil," Harmony retorted. "You'll get yourself killed, and I'll just keep eating cake."

Lee shook her head at her friend and ran up to the brooms that were lined on the lawn. She immediately saw Sarah, hanging out with a girl that had really bushy hair.

"Hey Sarah," Lee called, getting her friend's attention.

"Hey Lee," Sarah replied. "This is my friend Hermione."

"Nice to meet you Hermione," Lee said, shaking her hand. "You excited to get in the air?"

"Totally," Sarah answered. "It'll be awesome."

"I don't know, I'm a little nervous," Hermione admitted.

"I bet you and Harmony are in the same boat," Lee said calmingly. "There's nothing wrong with being nervous. Me, I've always enjoyed open spaces, they give a sense of freedom."

Harmony walked up to the cluster of girls.

"I'm not nervous," Harmony stated, hearing Lee's statement. "I just like having both my feet on the ground."

Before anymore teasing could commence, the teacher, Madame Hooch, began the lesson. Lee and Sarah listened eagerly.

"Now, stick your right hand over the broom and say UP," Madame Hooch instructed.

"Up!" The students said.

Lee smiled when her broom came up. It took a few tries, but it worked. Sarah got it up almost instantly. Harmony tried a few times, but finally just picked up the broom. The lesson continued, and Madame Hooch showed them how to grip the broom. The lesson was going just fine, until a boy named Neville had a mishap on his broom. His broom kept rising and went zooming off with him. Eventually, the broom crashed and he fell back to the ground, but got a broken wrist.

"I hope he's all right," Lee said as Madame Hooch ushered him to the infirmary.

"Don't worry, I met the nurse and she can fix anything," Sarah replied.

The crowd of students then began to cluster around another event that was happening. The three friends went to investigate and found Harry, having an argument with none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Give it here Malfoy," Harry ordered, gesturing to a ball Malfoy was holding.

"No, I think I'll hide it somewhere for Longbottom to find," He replied, getting on his broom. "How about on the roof?"

Malfoy flew up at least twenty feet and Harry followed him. The students watched eagerly, most of them anyways. Lee began to get nervous after she saw Harry charge at Draco. She almost didn't realize that there were sparks coming from her hands. As they continued, more sparks came, and Harmony and Sarah noticed.

"Lee," Sarah whispered. "We need to go somewhere else."

"What?" Lee asked, her attention going to Sarah. "Why?"

"Your magic," Harmony answered. "It's… manifesting."

Lee nodded to her friends and followed them to an alcove. The sparks stopped coming as Lee calmed down.

"I can't keep doing this all year," Lee groaned. "I don't even know what it is."

"It'll be fine," Sarah replied. "Just as long as we figure out how you can control it."

As soon as Lee was sure that it was under control, they went back to the other students and saw Harry leaving with Professor McGonagall. The students were dismissed to their lunch period after they left.

"So, Lee," Draco said, coming up behind them. "I saw you getting nervous on the ground."

"So what if I was? It has no implications to you. Harry's my friend, and I was concerned."

Before he could say any other words, Lee, Sarah and Harmony went into the Great Hall. Lee and Harmony sat at the end of the Slytherin table and got some food.

"What's up with that kid?" Harmony asked.

"How should I know?" Lee replied. "I grew up in a home for girls. I don't know the first thing about boys. Besides, there are more important things."

"Yeah, like your magic."

"I was thinking about you always waking up in the middle of the night," Lee stated. "Everybody gets bad dreams, but not THAT much."

"It's just those 'visions' again," Harmony answered. "It's fine."

"Maybe you should go talk to a professor," she suggested. "I mean, we're witches, maybe there's some validity to these dreams."

"You don't know the half of it," Harmony mumbled.

"I'm going down to the lake with Kaede," Lee sad, changing the subject. "You wanna come?"

"No thanks, I'd rather stay inside."

"K, well, I'm going, I'll see you later."

Lee met Kaede in the entrance hall and they walked down to the beach together.

"So how're your classes?" Lee asked.

"They're not bad. I do enjoy herbology," Kaede answered. "What about you?"

"Same, though, I get this really weird feeling around Professor Quirrell," Lee replied.

"The defense against the dark arts teacher?" Kaede asked.

"Yeah. Something about him just feels off."

The two friends sat on the shore of the lake. Lee took off her shoes and waded in the shallows. Everything seemed fairly normal. Then, a giant monster came lumbering out of the woods. As students started panicking, Lee saw that her friend had vanished. She ran to the shore and grabbed her wand. Lee wasn't the type to run and hide. The monster saw her by the shore, but it was soon distracted by a girl that flew by, throwing multiple punches at the monster. She was dressed in a sailor's suit.

"You need to run!" She yelled at Lee, before attacking the monster again.

Lee, unfortunately, was rooted to the spot. This was a new kind of crazy. The monster knocked aside the girl for a brief moment and began to advance on Lee. Terror took over, and Lee's magic manifested completely and formed a shield of water around her. The monster was taken aback, and a fan came slicing through the air, destroying it. Lee lowered her arms, though they still had the strange magic radiating from her hands.

"Lee, are you ok?" The girl asked, picking up her fan, which then vanished.

"Wait, Kaede?" Lee replied, seeing the girl. "You're...a princess?

"Sailor scout," she corrected. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm ok," Lee said with a nod. "What's a sailor scout?"

"Umm… we're people from the future that have been given powers by some cats," Kaede answered sheepishly.

"You're from the future?!"

"Well, some of the team is from the present, but there was an incident in the future that required some of the new generation to time travel. The girl I call my sister is actually, technically, my mother. Oh, my sailor scout form is referred to as Sailor Io."

"Well, my day keeps getting even crazier," Lee stated blatantly. "Wait until Sarah and Harm hear this."

"You can't tell them," Kaede said quickly. "Only the professors are supposed to know."

"Great, more secrets to add to my life."

"I gotta go, before the students start coming out," Kaede said quickly. "See you in class!"

Lee shrugged and went back into the lake, this time with her book in hand. She skipped rocks absent mindedly while she read through the book that she'd already read twice. Being a witch was a lot more crazy than she thought it would be.

Harmony was enjoying her time in the library with Sarah. It was quiet, no crazy, unexplainable magic, and no work. Well, there was work, she just wasn't doing it. Sarah was sitting next to her with a sketch pad and some pencils.

"You're a really good artist, Sarah," Harmony stated, seeing her friend's drawing.

"Thanks, but I think it could be better," Sarah replied, erasing some lines and redrawing them.

The drawing was actually a picture of a flying book. The wings were intricately designed to look just like an eagle's. The pages had actual writing on it. When Harmony got a closer look, it was their potions textbook.

"Why potions?" She asked.

"Dunno, just felt like having my textbook fly away," Sarah answered. "I hate that class."

They sat there in silence. It wasn't awkward. Harmony felt that it was a peaceful silence. The silence was soon interrupted as a book came flying through the library. Students were screaming and Madame Pince was ready to hand the student responsible a hefty punishment. Harmony ducked as the book went soaring by her head. It had eagle wings!

"Umm, Sarah," Harmony said, prodding her friend's shoulder. "I think a book got your idea and decided to fly."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Sarah asked, looking up to see the book fly by. "Oh… Nevermind. How did that book get wings?"

As the book soared past them again, a student blasted the wings of the book, making it fall to the floor. Sarah picked it up and her eyes widened.

"What is it?" Harmony asked.

"It's my potions book," Sarah whispered, pointing to her sketchpad.

"You mean…?"Harmony replied. "Your potions book tried to fly away, just like the drawing?"

Sarah closed her sketch pad quickly and shoved her things in her bag. Harmony soon followed her. They ran down to an empty corridor and stopped, waiting for the other to say something.

"Well, now we know Lee isn't the only one with strange magic," Harmony said sheepishly. "Hooray?"

"You and I have different definitions of hooray," Sarah replied. "How did this even happen? I swear, I've never done that before! My drawings don't just come to life!"

"I'm sure that there's an explanation," Harmony said, trying to calm Sarah. "Maybe the magic activated when you came to Hogwarts, because your normal magic activated."

"Maybe that's what happened," Sarah nodded, taking deep breaths.

Harmony shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It's not like she didn't have her own weird powers. Somehow she was a seer, but that had nothing to do with Hogwarts. That was probably an already dormant ability of hers. Either way, at least Kaede was normal, right?


	5. A Dream Bond

**Chapter Five: A Dream Bond**

The days quickly turned to weeks, which turned to months. It was the day before Halloween. It was nearly time for Lee to take her license exam. The school had already arranged for her to go to Diagon Alley to take it. She would be gone for an entire day, but it would be a Saturday, so she wouldn't miss anything. Lee was becoming anxious and had her friends test her at every opportunity. Kaede would be accompanying Lee to Diagon Alley for some support. As the day got closer, Lee became more anxious, despite the assurances of her friends and professors that she was more than capable of passing with flying colors.

One day after class, Lee was met by Professor Quirrell. He came up a little tentatively, and Lee could smell the awful aroma of his turban.

"Good luck on your exam, Lee," he said, stuttering as usual. "I'm s-s-sure you'll do just fine. You're an excellent witch."

"Thanks Professor," Lee replied with a smile.

He held out his hand for Lee to shake. She shook it, not wanting to be rude. As her hand touched his, she felt a shiver pass up her spine. It wasn't like a chill, it felt colder than that, and it didn't seem to pass until after she took her hand away.

"Thanks for the well wishes Professor," Lee said, leaving the Great Hall and heading outside to meet her friends.

They didn't talk much. All of them were studying for some class or another. One would ask another for help on a subject. Eventually, the bell rang and they departed for their classes. To Harmony, they seemed very dull, and she couldn't wait for the Halloween feast that night. Sarah enjoyed her classes to an extent. They did some interesting things, though she found it somewhat mundane. Kaede found her classes to be normal and uneventful. There was nothing mundane, but nothing intriguing. Lee wasn't focused on her classes at all, but rather, her particular extra-curricular.

The friends met up after class in the entrance hall. They all discussed their classes and events that happened in the afternoon while going to the Halloween feast.

"Ron was a bit of a jerk to Hermione," Sarah said. "She's been in the bathroom for awhile."

"Poor kid," Lee replied. "Ron isn't inherently mean, he just...doesn't know when he should shut it."

"It sounded like he was being a real jerk," Kaede commented. "Are you sure you know him that well?"

"He's a mutual acquaintance," Lee answered. "But like I said, he's not inherently a jerk. Granted, what he said was inexcusable."

The friends parted ways and went to their house tables. Lee and Harmony saw Sarah giving Ron an earful. They sat and ate quietly until they were interrupted by a certain pale, blonde menace.

"Hey Lee, I heard your license exam was coming up soon," Draco said.

"Yeah, I wonder what gave that away. My nervous tick or the constant re-reading of my textbook?" Lee replied sarcastically.

"Well, I think it's brilliant that you're applying for something like that," he said. "Do you want someone to come along?"

"My friend Kaede has that handled, thanks," Lee answered coldly.

"Draco!" Pansy called. "Why are you talking to that mudblood? Come over here and have some of this delicious food."

"Pansy, be nice," Draco barked.

"I don't need you fighting my battles," Lee snapped at him. "Now, thanks for the compliment, but I'd like to continue eating."

Draco stalked away and Harmony looked at Lee curiously.

"That wasn't very nice," she commented. "He was just being polite."

"He was being a hypocrite," Lee corrected. "I heard him call some other students mudbloods earlier. Besides, I don't like people trying to fight my battles for me. I can handle Parkinson."

Harmony dropped the subject and continued eating. Their evening was interrupted when Quirrell came running into the hall.

"Troll!" He screamed. "Troll in the dungeon!"

He soon fainted, and the students started getting up and running for the entrance. Harmony turned and found Lee pushed up against the wall with panic all over herself. Harmony chided herself for forgetting. Lee was enochlophobic, as well as claustrophobic. Harmony went up to Lee and tried to calm her down.

"I'm sure this'll be over very soon," Harmony said, not knowing what to say.

"It's just like the station...and the shed," Lee whispered in panic. "I don't wanna be back at the station, or the shed. "

"Silence!" Dumbledore boomed over the panicking students. "Everyone please, do not panic! Prefects, take the students back to their dormitories, the teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

As the crowds thinned into the houses, Lee calmed down and Harmony led her to the back of the slytherin crowd. When they made it back to the common room, Lee was still a bit panicked, but Harmony thought she was better.

"What's the matter mudblood? Scared of a troll?" Pansy sniggered, seeing Lee in a corner.

"Buzz off, Pansy," Harmony replied sharply. "Lee's not scared of a troll."

"Then why is she curled in a corner?"

"Lee, why don't you go to bed?" Harmony suggested, sending her in the direction of the dormitory. When she was out of earshot, Harmony rounded on Pansy again. "It's none of your business what Lee has issues with, and you have no right to tease, considering you were one of the first people shrieking."

Harmony found herself no longer questioning why she stood up for her friends. It was because they all had their issues, which led to people teasing them. She went to the dormitory and found Lee sitting on her bed.

"Can I ask why you're so enochlophobic?" Harmony asked.

"There was an incident when I was little," Lee answered.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No."

Harmony didn't push and sat on her bed across from Lee. They sat in silence, except it wasn't like the normal silences they'd had before. This time it was about them waiting for the other to start. Harmony didn't really want to. She left Lee in the dormitory and got some of the food the staff brought down from the feast. When she returned, Lee was asleep on her bed, still in her regular robes.

The next day, there was a buzz about the troll. Apparently, Harry and Ron had stopped the troll to save Hermione. Lee and Harmony smiled when they heard this tale. Leave it to Harry to go charging at a troll. They met with Kaede and Sarah at the lake. It was Friday, and they had their first hour off. Tomorrow, Lee and Kaede were going to Diagon Alley, and they would be gone for the entire day.

"So, how many people in your house were freaking out last night?" Sarah asked.

"Pretty much everybody," Lee replied.

"We heard one slytherin saying you were kind of freaked out," Kaede said with concern.

"The crowds freaked me out."

Their friends left it at that and switched their conversation to class. The day was boring, and none of the friends really had anything worth mentioning. As the day continued, they still found no interesting things to discuss. All of them nearly fell asleep during History of Magic. Finally, it was dinner. Harmony and Lee sat quietly as usual. Professor Snape came up and handed Lee a small pouch.

"This is some money from your fund," he said. "It should be sufficient for buying some breakfast on the train."

"Thanks Professor," Lee replied, taking the pouch and putting it in her bag. "I won't spend it all."

"They're really supportive," Harmony stated as Snape walked back to the staff table.

"Yeah," Lee said affirmatively. "It's weird. It's like they've been building this fund ever since I was born, given how much money is in it."

Harmony shrugged and went back to eating. Lee finished her food and went down to the dormitory early. Harmony wished her luck for the exam tomorrow.

Lee met Kaede at the train platform in Hogsmeade. There was a crowd of students around the platform. Professor McGonagall said that they were coming on the train because there was a field trip to the Ministry of Magic. The two friends boarded the train and took a compartment to themselves. As they went on the tracks to London, Lee had Kaede quizzing her on everything.

"All right Lee, what's the proper way to approach a naturally violent dragon?" Kaede asked.

"The trainer is meant to approach from behind and slowly come into their field of vision so as to not be a threat," Lee answered. "Though I prefer a direct approach, where you approach them from the front so as to prove you aren't afraid and that you're not a threat. It builds better trust."

"Nicely done," Kaede said, looking up from the book. "I can see you won't be a very conventional trainer."

"Conventional isn't a word in my vocabulary."

Kaede continued to quiz Lee for another hour. She passed every question with flying colors. When Kaede closed the book, Lee gave many words of protest.

"No, we aren't doing this the entire ride," Kaede said. "Rest. You want to have plenty of energy for the test."

Lee relented to her friend's demands and fell asleep. As she slept, Lee found that she was dreaming of a dragon. It had pale, blue scales, and its wings had red under-scales. The breed was an Opal Red, a rare and very solitary breed. It looked at Lee, and it had chains on its feet.

"Help me," she heard a voice.

"You want my help?" Lee asked, looking at the beast. "I haven't even got my license yet."

"Help me," It replied, this time more weary.

"I promise, I'll help you," Lee answered. "Where are you?"

The background behind the dragon was in a forest. Lee didn't know where, but it seemed like it was the Dark Forest. There was a giant pillar holding the dragon's chains. Lee reached out and stroked the dragon's snout.

"I'll help you," she whispered. "What's your name?"

The dragon lifted its wings, showing a shield pattern in the under-scales. Lee instantly saw the name of the beast, it was Aero Shield. Before Lee could do anything else, she was shaken awake by Kaede.

"We're at the station," she said.

"All right, let's go," Lee replied, getting up from her seat.

They walked down to Diagon Alley. Unlike during the summer, it was very empty. Lee led Kaede to the shop where she'd purchased her training guide. The owner was quite impressed to see Lee back again.

"So, you're ready for this test?" she asked.

"Lee's more than ready," Kaede replied confidently. "She knows everything in that book."

The owner smiled showed Lee to a building by Gringotts. It wasn't as big, but it was just as lavish.

"This is the Dragon Riders Guild HQ," the owner said. "You go in and they'll give you the test."

"Thanks," Lee replied. "Wish me luck."

"You don't need luck," Kaede stated. "You've got more than enough skill."

Lee entered the building a bit tentatively. She was greeted formally by a man, who asked her name and gave her a test. Lee glanced at the written portion. It didn't seem as difficult as she thought it would be. The practical part of the exam might be the challenge.

Kaede sat at Florence's ice cream parlor, waiting for Lee to finish the exam. She had meant what she said to Lee, there was no need for luck, especially when she seemed like such a natural. As Kaede was sitting there she thought she saw someone that wasn't supposed to be here. When she looked back, he was gone. Perhaps she was just being paranoid. There was no way he could've found her that quickly. Kaede sat more alert, keeping an eye out for him in case she hadn't imagined it.

Lee looked over her exam three times before handing it in. As she walked up, she noticed that no one else was done yet. That made her a little bit nervous. She handed her exam to the man that had met her at the door. He looked a little bit surprised to see her done so soon. She waited silently as he looked over the test.

"It says on your registration that you applied for the dragon class license?" He asked.

"Yes," Lee answered briefly.

"Follow me, and we'll go through the practical part of the exam," he said, getting up from his desk.

Lee followed him out to a giant courtyard. There were many different breeds of dragons lying lazily in the sun. He stood at the door with her.

"What am I supposed to do?" She asked.

"Go towards one of the dragons," he answered. "We will judge how much skill you have and if you have enough for a dragon class license."

Lee turned towards the courtyard and swallowed a nervous breath. She looked at each dragon and her eyes settled on a small, indigo dragon. It was a Hashnat. Those dragons are known to be particularly rough at a young age, still, she approached it slowly. The dragon perked up its head, eyeing Lee. She held her hands up showing that she was unarmed, except for a wand. It came up to her and sniffed her, it, no SHE, was becoming more comfortable with Lee. Lee let one of her hands fall to stroke the dragon's snout, like she remembered from the dream, except that this dragon was smaller than her, not bigger. The dragon cooed, and let Lee continue stroking her, and a smile spread across Lee's face.

Kaede was waiting for an hour, maybe two. It seemed like this exam was taking longer than she expected. Her attention was caught when she saw Lee come out of the Dragon Riders Guild HQ. She ran up to her friend, eager to hear how she did on the exam.

"How'd it go?" Kaede asked rapidly. "Did you pass? When do you get your first animal?"

"Slow down Kaede," Lee laughed. "The exam went well. The written part was easy. And, I passed!"

The two friends squealed excitedly, and Lee pulled out a small pouch. Inside, there was a small ball, and something similar to a cell phone. Lee showed them to Kaede with excitement.

"This is called a PAC Ball," Lee said, holding up the small ball. "It's so I can make sure my pets are stored safely, there's magic so that it's like a portable habitat. This device is a pet identifier. I thought it was cool how they used technology instead of magic to make it."

"Those are really cool," Kaede replied. "So, when do you get your first animal? Oh, did you get the dragon class?"

"I DID get the dragon class," Lee answered again. "And, they gave me my first animal."

Lee opened her PAC Ball and the dragon from her exam materialized. Lee kneeled down next to her and scratched her under the snout.

"This is Jewel," Lee said. "She's a Hashnat dragon."

Kaede smiled at the small dragon. Lee put her back in the PAC Ball and they went back to the train where the other students were waiting after their trip to the Ministry. Professor McGonagall came up to them and quickly asked Lee what Kaede had.

"Yeah, I passed," Lee said happily. "I got the dragon class too!"

The students boarded the train back to Hogwarts excitedly. Lee and Kaede couldn't wait to tell the others what had happened. They sat in their compartment, and Jewel was lying on Lee's lap. The trolley witch passed by their compartment, and Lee bought two pumpkin pasties.

"I think Jewel wants some sweets," Kaede chuckled, seeing the dragon eyeing one of the treats.

"You want one, Jewel?" Lee asked, holding one to her.

Jewel ate it tentatively at first, but then swallowed it in one bite. The two friends laughed, and Lee ate her's. The train suddenly stopped, and Lee looked out the window.

"Why have we stopped?" Kaede asked.

"It's probably just some technical difficulties," Lee answered.

"And, what's that coming towards the train?"

Lee looked out the window again and saw a figure that shifting every few seconds as it came closer to the train.

"It's not a boggart, they like closed, dark spaces," Lee said. "It keeps changing its shape"

Lee took out her identifier and turned it on. She searched for any shape shifting creatures.

"Hey, what kind of terrain is out there, Kaede?"

"It looks like a bog," she answered.

Lee put this new information into the search. The result was a Bog Worm. It was a snake-like creature with a muky, brown body. Its head and snout were a dark grey, and it had only two front paws.

"That's strange," Lee stated. "Those types of dragons are very wary of people. It would only be coming so close if it were rabid."

"Umm, Lee, It's crawling up right next to the train," Kaede said warily.

"Near what compartment?" Lee asked quickly, getting to her feet.

"Down that ways a little," Kaede answered quickly. "But you said it's probably rabid. Doesn't that mean it's untrainable?"

"Nice to know you were paying attention to the book," Lee replied with a smirk, vanishing down the corridor to the compartment where the Bog Worm was.

Lee found the compartment quickly. It was the compartment with all of the panicking fifth years. She quickly tapped on the door, getting the attention of one of them while the other three continuously yelled the spell 'ridiculous' at it.

"That spell won't work, it's not a boggart, it's a rabid Bog Worm," Lee said to them. "Let me in. I can help."

"You're a first year!" One replied over the shrieking.

"Yeah, and I just got my training license," Lee snapped back. "Now calm down and let me in!"

One of the girls came forward and unlocked the door. She shut it as soon as Lee got into the compartment. They all curled up into balls as the dragon came slithering in through the window that they forgot to close. Lee kneeled down and looked at the creature. It was a male, maybe four years old, which was quite old for a Bog Worm.

"Well, get rid of it!" One of them shrieked.

"Don't make any loud, frightened noise," Lee hissed. "It has telepathic abilities, and in order for me to figure out how rabid it is, it needs to telepathically lock onto me."

Kaede came down the hall and stayed outside the compartment and watched Lee work with the creature. It shifted every few minutes into something different, a spider, a clown and many other things, trying to scare Lee. She kept a calm look on the creature and it finally reverted to its real form.

"Easy there, buddy," Lee said soothingly. "You're not gonna hurt me are you? No, you're just hungry."

Lee calmly reached into the shoulder bag she had and pulled out a piece of meat. The Bog Worm looked at it cautiously and nibbled on it. As he nibbled, Lee examined him carefully. Her eyes settled on his paws, noticing a slight deformity.

"I know why he came to the train," she whispered quietly. "His paws aren't pointed, they're rounded, so he can't hunt properly. He became rabid because he's hungry."

The fifth years slowly lowered their feet to the ground. After the Bog Worm finished the piece of meat, he looked at Lee curiously, and finally coiled up and around her shoulders.

"So, you like me, huh?" She said with a smile. "Well then you can stay with me. I'm sure that since I have my license, the professors won't mind."

Lee got up and walked back to the compartment with Kaede. As they sat down, the Bog Worm fell asleep.

"How did you train it?" Kaede asked. "It was rabid."

"There are two kinds of rabid," Lee explained. "There's the rabidness caused by rabies and sickness, which has only one way to end. Then there's the kind that is caused by rejection, hunger, and thirst, which can be undone, but you need to know how to tell the difference."

"How could you tell it was the second one?" Kaede asked.

"I just know what it's like to go hungry," Lee answered.

Kaede wanted to ask Lee more questions, but decided not to. Lee was stroking the Bog Worm on the top of the head. Waiting for the train to start again.

"What are you going to call him?" Kaede asked.

"I don't know," Lee answered. "I can't think of anything fitting."

"What about Peat?" Kaede suggested.

"Pete? As in Peter?"

"No," Kaede replied. "Peat is a substance found in bogs. People use it for all sorts of stuff."

"I like it. My first, wild dragon," Lee said wistfully.

"I think today proves what I said earlier," Kaede stated. "You're a very unconventional trainer."

Lee smiled and decided to take another nap. When she fell asleep, she saw Aero Shield again, but this time there was a man. His hair was flaming red, he wore a tank top and green cargo pants, on his forehead, there was an inverted crescent moon. Lee eyed him suspiciously. It must be Aero Shield's captor.

"So far, you haven't done your job, beast," he said, kicking Aero Shield. "You aren't very efficient bait, are you?"

Lee stood silently and saw him pull out a knife. So he wasn't a wizard. He raised it, aiming for the chest of Aero Shield.

"No!" Lee cried, a blast of magic coming from her hands.

It hit the knife, sending it into the woods. The man turned, fury in his eyes. Lee wasn't sure if she needed to run or not. His gaze landed on Lee. This might be a dream for her, but she was definitely there. He started coming towards her, and Lee blasted him with more of her magic. Lee turned around and ran as fast as she could. A maniac was trying to kill her while she was dreaming! Lee kept running and suddenly felt herself fall through the ground.

"Aero Shield!" She yelled, hoping the dragon would be able to help her.

Lee only kept falling. Terror overcame her as it became darker, and smaller. She thought she would keep falling forever…

She shot awake, with sweat dripping down her forehead. Kaede was taking cover underneath the seat, and the windows were closed with curtains.

"Lee, are you okay?" She asked cautiously. "Your magic was going off all over the place."

"Some maniac tried to kill me," Lee answered.

"So you had a nightmare?"

"No, it was real," she insisted. "He had this red hair, and on his face he had a mark like a crescent moon, except it was sideways."

"Wait, you saw Crimson Rubeus?" Kaede replied, suddenly alert. "How?"

"There was a dragon, he had it chained up. It was an Opal Red named Aero Shield. Those dragons are rumored to have the ability to form dream bonds with people."

"Did Rubeus say anything?"

"Yeah," Lee answered again. "He said Aero Shield wasn't being very efficient bait. Then he saw me, he and he wasn't very happy with who I was."

"Crimson Rubeus is a villain from the Crystal Kingdom in the future," Kaede explained. "He must've been sent back to find me."

"So he thought he could lure you with a dragon?"

"I don't like it when innocent creatures are being harmed. What about dream bonds? What are those?"

"It's hard to explain," Lee replied. "Certain dragons can make them, but only with certain types of people. Dragons with telepathic abilities, like Peat's, can do it with anybody within a wide spectrum. I think Opal Reds need to do it with someone of a specific type."

"Okay, but what does it do?"

"I'm not really sure. Dream bonds are usually dismissed as legend or fairy tales. I know that it does connect the dragon to the person it creates the bond with. "

Lee began to ponder. Why would Aero Shield make a dream bond with her? The only thing peculiar about her was her magic. The train came closer to the station, and Lee put Peat into the PAC Ball, despite his reservations about it. They walked back up to the castle and met their friends outside the Great Hall, eager for some food.


	6. One Step Backwards

**Chapter Six: One Step Backwards**

The next few days were uneventful. Lee still had dreams of Aero Shield, but they were less frequent ever since Rubeus had spotted her. Kaede told her that she couldn't go looking for him, not until she dealt with Rubeus. Classwork also kept her from going into the woods to find him. It didn't take long for Harmony and Sarah to catch onto Lee's unusual behavior.

"What's bugging you?" Sarah asked, a little forcefully. "You've been...mopey."

"Not mopey, distracted," Lee corrected. "It's just a dragon."

"Which one, Peat or Jewel?" Harmony asked.

"It's not them," Lee replied. "It's complicated. Look, I'm fine, but I'm going camping for the weekend, and that should make it better."

"You're going camping? Why?" Harmony asked again.

"Just to get a taste of what expeditions will be like," Lee explained. "Speaking of, I should go get supplies gathered. Classes are out for the day, and Saturday is just a day away."

As Lee went running down to the Slytherin common room, Kaede came over to join them.

"Where's Lee hurrying off to?" She asked.

"The Slytherin common room," Sarah answered. "She's packing for a weekend camping trip in the woods."

"Wait, the Dark Forest?" Kaede asked again, getting a nod from the others. "That stubborn…"

Kaede marched down to the dungeons, hoping to catch Lee before she got to the common room. She got there as Lee was about to say the password.

"Are you insane?!" She hissed. "I told that you can't go after that dragon until I take care of Rubeus."

"Last I checked, you weren't my boss," Lee snapped. "I can't keep getting these dreams of him being in trouble and not do something."

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I don't care, I made a promise, and I'm keeping it."

Lee entered the common room, leaving Kaede standing there in the hallway. What was she going to do with that girl?! Lee must have a death wish to go after Aero Shield while Rubeus was still at large! She stormed back to Ravenclaw tower, planning to gather supplies of her own.

The tension between Lee and Kaede was thick enough to cut. They were hardly speaking to each other, despite the interventions of Harmony and Sarah. They avoided each other in the corridors, class and free time. They were only around each other when they had to be. Harmony started asking questions during dinner, before Lee was supposed to leave.

"So, what's going on with you and Kaede?" She asked.

"We have a difference of opinion," Lee answered briefly.

"About what?"

"Some… irrelevant stuff. It's nearly eight, I should get my gear and head out," Lee replied, leaving the table.

Kaede saw Lee get up from dinner early. She took that as her que to get her gear and follow her. She ran up to Ravenclaw tower as fast as possible and grabbed a small bag. She transformed into Sailor Io and left through the window. She saw Lee crossing the grounds and going into the Dark Forest. Kaede landed and followed her friend.

Lee kept her rucksack on her back and hiked through the woods quietly. She never put her wand down for one second. Lee heard Kaede following her, and was secretly glad. Despite their disagreement about how to deal with this, she knew Kaede would have her back. Lee figured that Rubeus would be holding Aero Shield deep in the forest. She kept her footsteps light, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. The forest was nearly pitch black, and Lee's wand was the only source of light. Then, she saw a large source of light coming from a clearing up ahead. She crept up to the clearing slowly and hid behind the trees. Sure enough, there was the pillar, and chained to it, was Aero Shield.

The dragon perked its head up. He knew that Lee was nearby. She motioned for him to stay silent, creeping around from the cover of the trees. As she got closer to the pillar, she became more sure that Rubeus was nowhere around. Lee went to the pillar and tried to break the chains with her wand. It wasn't working. Finally, she tried using her magic.

"C'mon," Lee whispered, her magic coming feebly from her hands. "The one time I want you to work."

The magic began to flow, much stronger, from her fingertips. She placed her hands on the chains and saw them begin to deteriorate. This was going to work!

"Well, I guess this dragon does make decent bait."

Lee froze and knew she'd been caught. Rubeus had her out in the open, and had her distracted.

"I'm assuming you're looking for Sailor Io," Lee replied, trying to stall him.

"How do you know about her?" He asked.

"It's not that hard when she comes out of nowhere and kills a monster right in front of you," Lee answered, trying to make the chains break faster.

"Oh, that thing was careless," Rubeus stated. "I was hoping this dragon would bond to her power, apparently I was wrong."

"Clearly you don't know how dream bonds work," Lee said blatantly.

"Then do enlighten me little girl. It'll be nice to know how I messed up before I kill you."

"A. dragons bond to people based on personality traits and a whole bunch of other personal stuff," Lee replied. "And B. You aren't going to kill me."

"No I think I will," he said, laughing at what he thought was her foolishness.

"Let me rephrase that, I won't LET you kill me."

Lee grabbed her wand and quickly shouted 'stupefy', dodging behind the pillar and continuing her work on the chain. She heard Rubeus grunt angrily. Not quite what she'd been hoping to do. Where was Kaede?!

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, Rubeus?" Lee heard, in response to her prayers.

"It's about time you showed up," Lee called to her friend.

"Now's not really the time,"Kaede replied.

Lee sneaked back around the pillar and continued breaking the chain. It seemed to be even stronger than she'd thought.

"Lee, duck!" Kaede yelled at her.

She followed her friend's order, and a blast of magic went over her head.

"I would prefer if you wouldn't take my head off!" Lee shouted.

As Kaede battled Rubeus, she constantly kept her eye on Lee. This battle would've been over much quicker if Lee would run for cover! Rubeus could tell she wasn't completely in the battle, which meant he knew how to distract her.

"Lee, get to cover!" Kaede ordered.

"Not happening!" She replied, still focused on the chain.

"Lee, you need to get out of here!" Kaede called.

"I'm not leaving without Aero Shield!" Lee called back. "He asked me for help, I won't leave him!"

"You're surprisingly stubborn for an eleven-year-old!"

"Yeah, thanks, I get that a lot!" Lee snapped.

An evil smirk spread across Rubeus's face. Kaede knew that smirk. What was he planning to do? Her eyes widened in horror as he threw a knife. It flew quickly through the air, towards Lee.

"Lee, look out!" Kaede yelled as the knife went flying towards her.

Lee didn't move. She was still looking over the chain. As the knife got closer, Kaede heard a snap of metal. The dragon snapped into action as soon as the metal snapped. There was a plume of flame that sprouted from his snout. It passed over Lee and hit the knife. There was no way Lee would ever forget the feeling of that heat. As the flame disappeared, the handle clattered to the ground.

"Incredible," Lee breathed in awe.

"You've got the dragon, now go!" Kaede ordered again.

This time Lee listened. She ran with Aero Shield into the cover of the trees. Now Rubeus had Kaede's undivided attention. He realized this too late. She summoned her fan, and leaped at him. In a single slash of the bladed edge, Rubeus was gone. Kaede destroyed the pillar he created and went into the trees to find Lee.

Lee sat there huddled in Aero Shield's wings. It was the first time they'd ever met outside of a dream. She reached up and stroked his snout, smiling at the beast.

"So, why did you make a dream bond with me?" She asked.

He only cooed and licked her hand. It was so small a gesture, but Lee understood it completely. They sat there, waiting for Kaede to find them.

Saturday morning seemed a little bit too quiet for Harmony and Sarah. They were waiting for Lee and Kaede to return, but they wouldn't be back until Sunday. As they sat at the shore of the lake, they heard a delighted squeal. Many of the students were looking up at the sky.

"You heard that too, right?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah," Harmony answered. "A girl is squealing in delight in the sky."

The two friends glanced up at the sky and saw a silhouette. As it came lower, they saw that it was a dragon, with a rider.

"Do you think that's the dragon Lee was talking about?" Sarah asked.

"How do you know it's Lee?" Harmony asked.

"Well, do you know anybody else that knows how to train dragons?"

It landed softly on the ground, and sure enough, it was Lee on the dragon's back. Harmony's eyes widened when she saw the dragon. It was the dragon in her dream.

"Hi guys," Lee said cheerfully. "I decided to come back a little early."

"We can see that," Sarah replied. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is my new pal. His name is-"

"Aero Shield?" Harmony asked.

"Yeah," Lee answered. "How'd you know?"

"It was a lucky guess," Harmony replied. "Your hair's a mess by the way."

"I know. That's what happens when you have the most exhilarating flight ever," Lee said, jumping off Aero Shield's back.

Students started to gather around the friends. Some were surprised to see such a big dragon. Others were questioning why there was a dragon on the grounds. Professor Flitwick managed to push through the crowd to talk with Lee.

"Lee, I see you're back from camping," he stated. "What's this big fellow?"

"This is Aero Shield," she answered. "He found me in the forest."

"He found you?" Sarah asked.

"I'll explain later," Lee whispered.

Kaede came out of the forest and walked over to her friends.

"I see that your landing drew a crowd," she said to Lee.

"Wait, this is your dragon?" A seventh year asked Lee in disbelief.

"Mhm. I got my license last week," She answered again.

"All right everybody, go back to your activities," Flitwick ordered, dispersing the crowd. "There's nothing too extraordinary."

"Sure, this is definitely not extraordinary," Harmony said, rolling her eyes a little.

As the crowd dispersed, Lee sat down on the lawn with her friends. She explained what had happened from the beginning. They all listened to the tale. Lee explained the dream bond that Aero Shield made with her, but she left out the parts about Kaede and Crimson Rubeus. When she finished, they had many questions.

"Can every magical creature make a dream bond?" Sarah asked.

"Do you think there are more Opal Reds in the forest?" Harmony asked as well.

"No, only certain magical creatures can make dream bonds," Lee answered. "And, I don't think so. Opal Reds are solitary dragons."

"Can I fly on him with you?" Sarah asked with excitement.

"Sorry Sarah," Lee replied. "I've only ever flown once, you'll need to wait until I'm more experienced."

"But you're a natural," Sarah moaned.

"I want actual skill, not just beginner's luck," Lee said. "So, I think I'll do some practicing."

Lee ran inside and came back out in a swim shirt and swim shorts. Her friends looked at her curiously.

"How does swimwear relate to flying?" Kaede asked.

"I'll be practicing above the lake, so that way if I fall off I'll just go into the water," Lee explained. "Ready Aero Shield?"

Lee got up on Aero Shield's back and they began flying low over the water. The three friends on the ground all agreed that Lee was in her element. Harmony could hardly remember if she'd seen Lee, the most temperamental and closed off person she'd met, with a smile that big. Harmony could hardly remember if she or any of her friends ever smiled like that. As Aero Shield got closer to the water, Lee got bolder. It was almost time to get off for a rest, and Lee had an idea. She slowly stood herself up on Aero Shield's back, and she looked like she was surfing. They got to a spot over the water, not far from shore.

"Do you trust me, buddy?" Lee asked her reptilian partner. He gave her a grunt in response, which she took as a 'yes'. "Here I go!"

Lee jumped off her dragon and let herself dive into the water. She found it thrilling to go from the sky to the lake. Lee opened her eyes and looked at the open water all around her before swimming up to the surface. As she swam to shore, she heard her friends yelling at her.

"Lee, you must be crazy!" Kaede shouted. "Why would you jump off a flying dragon?!"

"Do have any idea how risky something like that could be?!" Sarah yelled.

"You're the biggest daredevil I've ever met," Harmony said, more calmly. "I won't be sorry when something goes wrong. I'll just keep eating cake."

"C'mon guys," Lee replied, standing up on the beach. "I'm fine. Besides, that was the most fun I've ever had."

Aero Shield nuzzled her affectionately as she dried herself off. Lee didn't care that it was the middle of November. While most people would be freezing, she found herself perfectly warm. Her friends eventually stopped harping her for being so foolish and she changed back into her normal clothes. Her joy, and her friends' joy, was short lived. As soon as they had settled down, Lee was met by the student she probably despised the most.

"What can I do for you Pansy?" Lee asked, biting back a snap.

"I would like you to get rid of that beast." Pansy answered haughtily. "You can't have a dragon on the grounds."

"Yes she can!" Sarah snapped.

"Easy, Sarah," Lee said, keeping her calm. "But she is right. I'm permitted to have a dragon with me, and I actually have three."

"Yeah right," Pansy replied sarcastically. "A mudblood like you could NEVER get the stuff required to have a dragon. The Ministry wouldn't allow it."

"A. It's not in the Ministry's jurisdiction. And B. I took the exam, I passed, I got the license," Lee snapped. "Therefore, I CAN. Oh, one more thing, if blood status is such an important factor in this, then why is it that I'm the only person that got a dragon class license this year?"

As Pansy stomped off, Lee sat down leisurely next to Sarah.

"I don't think I've ever seen that girl that mad," Harmony commented. "Why does she make it her priority to pick on you?"

"How should I know?" Lee answered. "I don't know what goes on in that girl's head, and I don't want to know."

"Maybe it's jealousy," Sarah suggested.

"What exactly do I have that she would be jealous of?" Lee replied. "My wardrobe is made up of ratty clothes, I've got no family, I'm a claustrophobe and enochlophobe."

"You've got a natural talent for flying, you're supported by the teachers in every way possible," Kaede pointed out. "Let's not forget that you are one of the best pupils in our classes, save for others like Hermione, and you're only eleven, yet you got the only dragon class license that was given out this year."

"And it seems that there's a certain slytherin that is desperate for your attention," Harmony added.

"Wait, who's this particular slytherin?" Sarah asked.

"Your slime victim," Lee answered. "His name's Draco. Biggest hypocrite I've ever met."

Their conversation slowly evolved into various students on campus that they seemed unable to stand. Kaede seemed to have a few issues with a boy in their year named Terry Boot. Sarah had some people in her house that she could tolerate, but she wasn't a huge fan of Lavender Brown. She said she was too girly. Harmony told them that Millicent Bulstrode seemed like another jerk. Lee immediately jumped to her apparent rival, Pansy, before going on to say that a Hufflepuff named Ernie seemed a bit pushy.

"What do you mean by pushy?" Kaede asked.

"He's always asking these questions like what life was like where I grew up and how I got placed in Slytherin," Lee answered. "And he pushes for answers. Whenever I say I don't want to talk he keeps going."

"That does seem pushy," Harmony admitted. "But I'm sure it's not that bad."

"Why not answer his questions?" Sarah asked.

"I just don't want to talk about it," Lee shrugged. "Chicago had its issues...Look, I need to go inside. I left my bag in the dorm. I'll be back out."

"She seems very closed off about her orphanage doesn't she," Kaede stated as Lee went inside.

"Remember what she was like on the train?" Harmony replied. "She was antisocial, and a little rude, and brief."

"Something tells me that Lee was never a people person," Sarah said. "Maybe she's just coming out of a shell. Let's be honest, it's not really our business if she doesn't want to tell us."

The girls waited for Lee to come back out. After what seemed like an hour, Lee still wasn't back. Maybe she'd made an excuse to go inside? They decided to push it to the back of their minds. Slowly, it became more apparent that Lee was missing. By dinner, Lee had been gone for hours. Harmony sat at the dinner table, worry crossing into her mind. She picked at her food with her fork.

"Where's your little, Mudblood friend?" Pansy snickered. "Did she finally decide to leave on one of those dragons?"

"What did you do?" Harmony replied sharply, knowing that Pansy did something. "Where's Lee?"

"I don't know," Pansy answered meekly. "Maybe she's back in the woods."

"I won't say it again," Harmony growled, getting up and facing Pansy. "Where is Lee?"

Harmony knew she had to keep her own anger in check, but if something happened to Lee, she'd get it out of Pansy. Pansy shuddered under her gaze. Good, she'd better be scared.

"We...May have locked her in a closet," Pansy stammered.

"Which floor?"

"Third floor, near the forbidden corridor," Pansy squeaked.

Harmony went over to the Ravenclaw table and found Kaede. She got her attention immediately, drawing her from her conversation.

"What's up Harm?" She asked.

"Pansy locked Lee in a closet on the third floor, near the out-of-bounds-corridor," Harmony stated. "We need to go there now."

"Hang on Harmony," Kaede said. "We should get a professor. You know how she is. If she's been in there for hours…"

Harmony nodded and went up to the staff table. She was going to go to Professor Snape, he was their head of house. She rethought as she approached his seat, but quickly dismissed the thought.

"What is it?" Snape asked coldly.

"It's about Lee," Harmony said calmly. "Pansy and some other people in the house locked her in a closet. She's been there for hours."

"I'm sure you can get her out," Snape replied.

"Sir, we don't know how to deal with Lee when she gets out," Harmony explained. "She's very claustrophobic, we really may need an adult."

Professor Snape told her to wait by the exit while he got Professor Dumbledore. They both came down promptly, and Harmony and Kaede led them to the closet Pansy had told them about.

Lee had been in the closet for so long. Tears were running down her face. She had never cried, not since that incident. His voice and the memory echoed through her head. Get his voice out! There were so many other objects in the closet taking up the already limited space. She sat there in a ball. Where were her friends?! They should've noticed she was gone! Pansy and two other girls had surprised Lee while she was coming back up from the dorm. She forgot how they'd gotten her all the way up there. When the door closed, she banged on the door, but they'd locked it. She'd tried to use her wand, but they'd kept _alohomora_ from working. The darkness reminded her of that old shed so much! Her head jerked up when she heard fast footsteps approaching.

"I think this is the closet Pansy mentioned sir."

That was Harmony's voice. Her friends had found her! A professor, Dumbledore, she thought, muttered a spell and opened the door. The sudden light blinded her, but Lee ignored it and got to her feet. She hugged the nearest person, not daring to let go.

"Please...don't put me back in there!" She cried.

"It's all right Lee, no one will make you go back into the closet," Dumbledore said calmly.

It became apparent that he was the person Lee had attached herself to. She didn't care that she was still crying, she just didn't want to let go.

"Severus, please go fetch Ms. Parkinson, and her cohorts responsible. I shall take Lee up to my office," Dumbledore ordered softly.

"Professor, may we please come with you?" Kaede asked. "Lee's our friend, and we were really worried about her."

"I think it would be best for Lee to come alone for now," he answered. "However, if she asks for you, I'll make sure to send for you Ms. Kino."

Professor Dumbledore took Lee to his office, and Professor Snape went to get Pansy and the others from the Great Hall. Harmony and Kaede stood still, looking at the closet. They had never seen Lee look so...Vulnerable. They knew she was claustrophobic, but not to such a degree.

"What do you think happened that made her like this?" Kaede asked.

"I don't know," Harmony answered. "People have never been my strong suit."

Sarah came running up the hall to join them. She looked from the closet to the two girls.

"Was Lee really in there?" She asked with concern.

"Yeah. Dumbledore took her up to his office," Kaede answered. "How'd you hear about it?"

"Fred mentioned it to me. He overheard Snape talking to Parkinson and the other girls," Sarah explained. "He knew that Lee's my friend, so he told me. How was she?"

"Not very good," Harmony stated. "She looked utterly terrified. She practically latched onto Dumbledore. She was crying too."

"Guys, it's almost curfew, we should get to our common rooms," Kaede said. "We can talk about it more with Lee tomorrow."

The friends parted ways. All of them had a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

Lee sat quietly in a chair across from Dumbledore. He had waited for her to calm down,and she had a good guess at what he was going to do next. She didn't really care, she just kept staring at her feet. Finally, he spoke to her.

"Lee, I knew that you had issues with small spaces," he stated. "I would like to help you, but I need to know why you fear them so much."

"I don't want to remember," Lee replied. "I hate that memory."

"I don't want to pressure you Lee," Dumbledore said calmly. "I would like to know why there are so many bad memories associated with small spaces."

"For starters, you could say that it's the wrong diagnosis," Lee explained. "I'm not claustrophobic, or enochlophobic, it's that they're triggers."

"How so?"

"They trigger memory flashes," Lee continued. "I have PTSD. The small, dark spaces, the crowds, they all set me off. That's why I like huge, open spaces, and why I like to keep myself restricted."

"How do you know that?"

"There are a lot of veterans that lived around my neighborhood," Lee explained. "They explained it to me."

"What kind of trauma caused this?"

"I would prefer to not say," Lee answered. "It's...somewhat recent."

Lee sat there, talking with Dumbledore for a while. He slowly began to understand. Lee didn't tell him anything about what had happened. To say it would be reliving it. Lee eventually let him use his wand to look at her memory. She sat silently as he went into something he called a pensieve. When he came back, he didn't say anything, he just gave her a look of immense pity. He sent her off to bed with no further questions. When she returned to her dorm, Lee collapsed on her bed. The sleep, thankfully, was dreamless.


	7. The Holidays

**Chapter Seven: The Holidays**

The next day, Pansy and her friends were in detention. Snape had given them a really harsh punishment, considering that he was always playing favorites with Slytherin students. Kaede, Sarah and Harmony tried to talk to Lee, but she wasn't really invested in conversation. Eventually, her friends decided to give her the space she needed. They were hoping that maybe there was something they could've done to help, but it seemed Lee had quickly rebuilt her wall.

"You'd think Lee would be more open with us," Sarah stated while climbing up a tree.

"I wish she'd tell us what happened," Kaede sighed. "That's what friends are for, aren't they?"

"Just leave her be," Harmony interjected. "If she doesn't want to say anything, then we won't make her."

They sat there and watched the silhouette of Lee, Aero Shield and Jewel flying in the quidditch pitch. There wasn't any delightful squeals this time, or daring stunts. It was just flying. Lee was thankful that her friends weren't being pushy. All she felt she needed was a day to herself. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, she didn't get her wish. Harry appeared at the pitch with his Nimbus 2000. He flew up and hovered by her for a moment.

"What?" Lee snapped.

"I just wanted to know if you're ok," Harry said. "I heard about what happened."

"I'm fine," Lee answered. "I just want to be by myself."

"Too bad," Harry teased. "I'm staying here."

Lee rolled her eyes and laid down on Aero Shield's back. Harry didn't talk a whole lot. So she didn't mind him being up there with her. Eventually, Lee found his presence a bit comforting. She found that she wanted to ask him questions, considering that they both were similar, but Harry had grown up with family.

"Hey, Harry what was it like growing up with your aunt and uncle?" Lee asked.

Harry stopped doing laps and looked at Lee. The question had caught him off guard. He thought about it carefully then answered.

"The Dursleys don't like me," he answered. "They hate anything to do with magic. When Hagrid showed up, they said they'd tried to beat it out of me."

"They beat you?"

"Not exactly," Harry said. "They would lock me in my cupboard, not let me eat and they always gave me the hand-me-downs. They didn't stop my cousin from picking on me. They didn't care."

"But they're your family," Lee replied, finding it almost upsetting that his family was so cruel. "Isn't a family supposed to love you?"

"Yeah, a family's supposed to do that," Harry answered. "But they hate anything to do with magic. Which means they hate me… They told me my parents died in a car crash for ten years."

"Maybe I dodged a bullet," Lee muttered. "I always wanted a family, for anyone to say they were related to me. Maybe it's a good thing no one did."

"My case isn't a model example of family," Harry replied. "But you should think about Neville. He is taken care of by his grandma. I don't know what happened to his parents, but his grandma took him in."

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up with your parents?" Lee asked.

"Sometimes. Everybody tells me just how much I'm like my dad, and how kind my parents were. What about you?"

"There are no photos or records of my parents. But sometimes I think I dream about them, when they left me at the orphanage. I always wonder why they did it."

The two eleven year-olds sat there, talking about the families they barely remembered. Lee was usually much more closed off about the topic of her parents, but she found it easy to talk with Harry. It was almost like a sibling that she was best friends with. They finally landed on the field of the pitch and began walking back to the castle. This time, Lee's face was not somber and stone-like. Instead, she wore a smile. Her smile melted off her face the moment Draco sauntered up to her.

"Hey Lee," he said. "What'cha doing with Potter?"

"He's my friend," Lee answered. "If you've got a problem with that then move out of the way."

"I'll see you later Lee," Harry whispered, going off to the Gryffindor table.

"Listen here Malfoy," Lee snapped. "I don't care what stinkin' house I'm in, and I don't care about what your opinions on Harry are. We're friends, so buzz off."

"I never said there was a problem with it."

"You were thinking it," Lee replied. "Now excuse me, I'd like to get my dinner."

Lee sat down next to Harmony like any other usual night. She wasn't acting like her normal self, but she was getting there. They struck up small conversation, and Harmony thought it was definitely an improvement.

Over the next few weeks, Lee was back to her normal self. It was just in time for the Holidays. The four friends were hanging out in their free time in a room that Sarah had found on the seventh floor. Whenever they met, it was made to suit just what they wanted to do. One day it would be a library full of every book they could think of, another day it would be an endless room with climbing walls everywhere for Sarah to climb and for Lee to fly around. They eventually learned that it was called the Room of Requirement. One day the room was just a nice lounge. The friends sat in bean bag chairs by a fireplace. Lee was reading a catalog of trainer gear.

"So, how many of you are staying here for the Holidays?" Kaede asked, not looking up from her book.

"I can't," Harmony answered. "My parents and I have a ton of work to do at home."

"I think I'm staying," Sarah replied. "I'm still not sure. My aunt might want me to come visit."

"I'm staying," Lee stated.

"You don't want to go back to Chicago?" Kaede asked.

"I never want to go back there, not unless the world depends on it."

"I'm going back to Japan, my sister wants to catch up," Kaede said. "What are you guys hoping to get for Christmas?"

"New art supplies," Sarah stated. "My pencils are now just tiny pieces of wood."

"I'm hoping to get this new set of training gear," Lee replied. "I'm sick of only bareback riding. The chafe is killing me. Plus, I really want to try out grooming my dragons."

"I'm hoping to get a few new books," Kaede added. "What about you Harmony?"

"I don't know," Harmony answered. "I just want all the Christmas food."

"Who doesn't love Christmas food?" Sarah joked. "What's your favorite?"

"Probably the ham," Kaede replied.

"I'm particular to the Christmas cookies," Lee stated. "I loved baking them with Mr. and Mrs. Colter."

"Were those people your orphanage directors?" Harmony asked.

"No," Lee answered. "They ran the bakery across the street. My orphanage was run by a lady named Smirt."

"Did anybody else bake them with you?"

"No, it was always just the three of us," Lee answered. "They would send me home with a box full of the best cookies we made. The girls loved them. The younger ones tried to convince me to leave some out for Santa Claus."

"That sounds fun," Kaede replied. "Why didn't you?"

"Because then Smirt would've caught us," Lee answered again. "And also, they would be upset the next day, because Santa never visited."

They stayed in the room for another few hours, talking about their holiday traditions. Sarah said that she would always decorate the tree with her aunt. Kaede told them that she and her sister would always add a new decoration to their stockings. Harmony said that she always had Christmas with her dad's colleagues, and they would always hold a secret santa. Lee smiled and told them about how she would help decorate the window of the bakery with Mr. Colter, and how they always had a fight with the powdered sugar in the kitchen, making it look like it snowed inside.

One day, Lee was sitting in the common room. Harmony and Kaede had already left for break. Sarah said that she unfortunately, had to leave for the States to see her aunt. Lee was reading through the old recipes that the Colters had given her when she was seven. She had never let anyone touch these pieces of paper, not even Tillie. As Lee went over them, an idea struck her. Pansy was coming over to taunt Lee, but was unfortunately foiled, as Lee jumped up from her seat and ran to her dorm. Lee pulled out an old drawstring from her trunk and ran to find the Weasley twins. She found them in the entrance hall, getting ready for a snowball fight.

"Hey, Fred, George!" Lee called.

"Well, if it isn't the little miss reptile," Fred teased. "How can we help you?"

"You know how to get into the kitchens, right?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, we sure do," George replied. "Why?"

"That's my business," Lee answered with a smirk. "How do you get into the kitchens?"

"It's directly under the Great Hall," Fred answered. "While you're going down to the Hufflepuff basement, there's this huge painting of a bowl of fruit. You tickle the pear, and viola."

"Thanks guys," Lee said, turning and running over to the staircase that led to the Hufflepuff basement.

Lee found the kitchens in no time. When she entered, she was swarmed by house elves. They immediately started asking her what she needed.

"Look, I have some baking I need to do," Lee said, pulling out a piece of parchment. "I need all of these ingredients. Can you get them for me and lead me to an open counter?"

The house elves were happy to oblige. They gave Lee the stuff on her list in a snap. She found all of the dishes and trays she'd need on her own. The elves worked around her, preparing for dinner that night. Lee politely ignored the food they constantly offered her, focused solely on her task. Another idea struck her, and she let out her three dragons. The house elves were surprised by their sudden appearance, but Lee quickly assured them that they wouldn't cause a ruckus.

"All right gang, can you help me with some baking?" Lee asked. "It'll be fun, I promise."

The three dragons nodded their head and listened to Lee give them instructions. She found it enjoyable to work with her dragons. They were acting like a family. The group continued mixing and baking for hours. Lee made the icing that they would use for topping their finished products. Aero Shield and Jewel were using their fire to cook the cookies. Some of Jewel's cookies came out a little crisp until she figured out the right temperature to heat them at.

While Lee was mixing some more icing, Peat quickly stuck his snout by the bowl, getting pink icing all over his snout.

"What a wonderful color!" Lee giggled, putting some sprinkles on his snout. "You make the best dragon cookie, don't you Peat?"

He managed to shake the frosting off his snout, splattering it all over Aero Shield, Lee and Jewel. Eventually, there was frosting, sprinkles and powdered sugar all over the dragons and their trainer by the time they'd finished baking. Lee placed their cookies in several different boxes and put the dragons back into her PAC Ball. She left the kitchen covered in sugar and frosting, carrying the boxes.

"What happened to you?!" Harry asked in shock when he saw Lee passing by.

"My dragons and I may have gotten a little bit messy in the kitchen," Lee answered sheepishly.

"A little?" Ron replied. "That is more than a little."

Lee stuck her tongue out at Ron like a little kid and went back to her dorm. She cleaned herself up. Lee bundled herself up and took some of the boxes and walked up to the owlery. While she was at the entrance hall, she was met by Ernie. He was also going to the owlery.

"Hi Lee," he said cheerfully. "That's a lot of boxes. What's in them?"

"Christmas cookies," Lee answered. "I've been baking them all afternoon."

"I didn't know you bake," he replied.

"Yeah, there was a bakery across from my orphanage," Lee said. "We baked Christmas cookies when the Holidays came around. What are you mailing?"

"A Christmas letter for my parents," Ernie answered. "That and a small present for them."

"That's sweet," Lee replied. "I'm sending these to my friends. I'm hoping they like them."

They walked up to the owlery together. They swapped Christmas stories from their childhoods. While Lee thought Ernie could be really pushy, he was very pleasant this time. When they reached the owlery, Lee grabbed three owls and tied her boxes to their legs with her friends' addresses.

"Any chance you have extra cookies?" Ernie asked.

"There are always extra cookies," Lee said with a smile, pulling out a smaller box from her bag. "Here, you can have a reindeer."

"It's delicious!" Ernie said through a mouthful of cookie.

"Thanks, I made the recipe when I was nine," Lee replied.

They walked back down from the owlery to the Great Hall. Lee soon found that she enjoyed Ernie's company while her friends were away. Because so many of the students were away, there were no house tables. Lee soon found Harry sitting with Ron and his brothers. She eagerly took a seat next to them, and Ernie sat next to her.

"Hey Lee," the twins said. "Did you find the kitchen?"

"Yeah, I found it just fine," Lee answered. "It's huge!"

"What were you doing in the kitchens?" Professor McGonagall asked, overhearing their conversation.

"I was baking cookies," Lee answered, pulling out the box from her bag. "Would you like one Professor? They're my own recipes."

"They look delicious," Professor McGonagall replied, taking one. "But students aren't supposed to be in the kitchens. How did you find them?"

"I asked some of the ghosts," Lee lied quickly. "They pointed me in the right direction. Peeves showed me how to get in."

Professor McGonagall looked at Lee curiously then went to the staff table. The twins beamed at her.

"What? You didn't think I would rat you out, did you?" Lee asked.

"No, but you lie so convincingly," George replied.

"Maybe I have a few Slytherin qualities," Lee admitted.

"So, are those all the cookies you made?" Ron asked, eyeing Lee's box.

"Maybe, maybe not," Lee answered. "You'll have to wait to find out. Besides, Christmas is only two days away."

They sat at the table and enjoyed dinner. Lee left for her dorm a few minutes after dessert appeared, tired from a full stomach. She didn't notice that Pansy was following her back to the common room. Lee entered the common room and sat in her usual chair by the fire.

"So, you were making Christmas cookies?" Pansy teased. "That's pathetic."

"There's nothing pathetic about it," Lee retorted. "It's quite fun, and it's what a family does."

"What family do you have?" Pansy teased again.

"My family are my dragons," Lee answered simply. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with having fun in a kitchen. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go to bed."

Lee got up and got into bed. She had made sure to hide the cookies she'd made from her roommates. They were in one spot that only she could reach, or rather, only Peat could reach.

The next day flew by in a flash, and soon, it was Christmas eve. Lee sat in her bed until the other girls fell asleep. She grabbed the boxes she'd hidden and snuck out into the corridors. Lee used her magic, which she had learned to use quite well since finding Aero Shield, and went to Gryffindor Tower. Lee had managed to make herself intangible, passing through the portrait and into their common room. She placed the boxes underneath the tree for her friends to find and left.

In Italy, Harmony was enjoying an easy party. Her father had thrown it together and they would get to exchange gifts. They were at the tree, and everyone was ready for the secret santa. Her father picked up the first package. It wasn't even wrapped.

"Harmony, this one's for you," her father said, handing it to her.

"I get the feeling that someone was lazy this year," Harmony replied, opening it, then smiling. "It's cookies! And they're home-made!"

"Who had the time to bake a box of cookies?" One of her father's colleagues asked.

"Hang on, there's a letter that goes with it," Another said, handing it to Harmony. "This person must not know the meaning of SECRET santa."

Harmony opened it and recognized the scrawl.

 _Dear Harmony,_

 _I decided to make these cookies for you and our other friends at school for Christmas. Some of them are recipes the Colters gave me, others I made up myself. I hope you like them, and have a Merry Christmas! I can't wait to see you after break._

 _With best wishes, Lee, Aero Shield, Jewel, and Peat_

"It wasn't for the secret santa," Harmony said happily.

"Then who're they from?" Her mom asked.

"They're from my friend, Lee," Harmony answered. "She even signed with the names of her dragons."

"You have a friend that has dragons?" Her dad asked.

"Yeah, but only since November," Harmony answered again, eating a cookie. "Okay, these are good, and these are MINE. No one touch, or you die."

In a small apartment in Japan, Kaede was sitting at a table with her older sister, Makoto. They were making another decoration to add to their stockings this year. Kaede had made her's a small cat. Makoto smiled and got up to get the mail from the front door. She opened it and picked up a small package.

"Kaede, an early Christmas present arrived." Makoto said, handing Kaede the package.

"The letter says it's from my friend, Lee," Kaede replied, opening it. "They're Christmas cookies!"

The two sisters finished decorating their stockings and shared the cookies Kaede had received. Finally, they put their stocking above the mantle and sat down for some hot cocoa.

Across the world, Sarah was with her aunt in Maine. They were finishing the tree. Sarah put the garland around it, while her aunt added ornaments to the base. Sarah always loved doing this with her aunt, though she wished she could do it with her parents too. She was handed the angel to put on top. Sarah reached up and placed the angel on its perch, then went down to help her aunt with ornaments. She noticed that there was already a package underneath the tree.

"I thought we always waited until Christmas day to put the presents out," Sarah commented.

"That's not from me," her aunt replied. "Someone from Hogwarts sent it. Any idea who?"

"Maybe it was my friend Lee," Sarah suggested. "She doesn't have any family, so she stayed at Hogwarts."

"Do you want to open it now?" She asked. "It technically won't be breaking tradition."

Sarah jumped down from the stool and grabbed the box. She smiled when she opened it and showed her aunt the Christmas cookies.

"Your friend is a talented baker," her aunt commented.

"That girl never ceases to amaze," Sarah replied.

Lee wasn't expecting to wake up the next morning with presents by her bed. The moment she saw them, her eyes widened in amazement. She'd gotten presents! She saw cards from her friends, a parcel from Ron's mother, oddly enough, and a large parcel that didn't have a name. There was also another card from someone unknown. Lee ripped open the large parcel and could hardly contain her excitement! It was the training gear! The saddle was just right, the 'one size fits all', and there was the all-purpose grooming kit she'd been wanting and needing. The cards from her friends were all thank you's or the cookies and well wishes. Ron's mom had sent her a burgundy sweater that had a phoenix knitted on it. She put on some of her clothes and threw on the sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent her. Lee bolted to the common room, put the saddle on Aero Shield, and shoved the grooming kit into her bag.

Lee couldn't stop her excitement and ran out of the common room with Aero Shield close behind. She ran up to Gryffindor tower and knocked on the portrait. It was opened by Ron, who turned a bright shade of pink when he saw Lee's sweater.

"What? I think it looks good," Lee commented with a smile, entering Gryffindor tower.

"Hey Lee," Harry said.

He also had on a sweater that was made by Mrs. Weasley. Lee sat down in front of the fire with them.

"So, guys, guess what," Lee said happily.

"What?" Harry and Ron asked.

"I got the training gear I wanted," Lee answered. "The saddle, the basic grooming materials and everything!"

"What's a Slytherin doing in Gryffindor tower?" One of the twins asked, coming down from the dorms.

"What? I'm not allowed to see my friends on Christmas Day?" Lee replied.

"Mom gave you a Weasley sweater too," Fred exclaimed. "How did she even know about you?"

"Ron and I wrote to her about Lee," Harry answered. "We may have gone on about how you got your license and all the cool stuff you could do."

"Aw, you guys are sweet," Lee said, hugging them both.

They spent the morning in the tower, showing their gifts to one another . They then went outside and had a snowball fight; The twins began pelting Professor Quirrell with snowballs. They spent hours in the snow before returning to the castle. Lee didn't go back to Gryffindor tower, she went to the Room of Requirement. This time it was a high ceilinged, empty room. She let out Jewel, who had grown big enough to ride, and placed the saddle on her back. The saddle was hard at first, but it became softer as Lee continued riding.

"What is it that you like about these reptiles so much?" A girl asked, causing Lee to jump.

Jewel froze in the air and Lee scanned the floor, looking for the owner of the voice, but there wasn't anybody there.

"Oh, so sorry, she wasn't trying to startle you," another voice said, causing Lee to jump again.

"Jewel, do you hear any of that?" Lee asked warily, getting a shake from Jewel's head. "I must be losing my mind…"

"You're not going crazy," the first voice chuckled. "No, we've just decided to stop being completely silent."

"No, YOU decided to stop being silent," the other voice snapped. "As usual, you show no restraint. One of the many reasons your hosts always were considered crazy."

"My hosts were considered crazy?!" it retorted. "Need I remind you of the host that went crazy the first time you spoke to them?"

"That was a completely different situation!"

Lee urged Jewel to land. She jumped off of Jewel while she was still a few feet from the floor. Lee scanned for anything, and then she realized that in her panic, and as the two voices continued to bicker, magic was sparking from her fingers. On one hand, it was white, the other was black.

"Will you two just shut up?!" Lee yelled, startling Jewel.

The dragon looked at her trainer curiously. They were the only two beings in the room, so why was she yelling? Lee, in her frustration, and panic, placed her hands on one of the walls, only to have it begin to burn.

"What the heck?!" She cried in alarm, jumping back from the wall.

"Lee, please, it's not that hard to control," the first voice scoffed.

"Oh yeah, there's no difficulty controlling two primal, magical entities," the other replied sarcastically.

"Wait, I know you," Lee interjected with realization. "You were the voices in the hat!"

"Our names are Cora and Alban for your information," the first snapped. "We're not just random voices."

"Why are you in my head?" Lee asked.

"Honey, we've been here ever since you were a baby," Alban answered. "Who do you think healed all of those awful lashes for you?"

"That was you?!"

"Well, Alban anyways," Cora admitted. "She IS the force of healing, so it was technically in her element."

"Wait, so what are you?"

"Well, as Cora stated, I'm the magical entity of healing, and Cora is the magical entity of power," Alban explained. "We don't get along a whole lot, so it's unfortunate that we both had to pick you for a host."

"Well, you're so weak," Cora stated. "Really, it's all about helping those that are sick and too weak to heal themselves. It's disgusting really."

"Excuse me," Alban snapped. "But last I checked, you were the one constantly causing troubling duels and wars because you were trying to make your host the most powerful person there ever was."

The two continued to snap insults at each other. Lee rubbed her temples, feeling the worst headache she'd ever had. These two really didn't get along.

"Will you two knock it off?!" Lee snapped. "You're giving me a headache, and it's not a pleasant feeling!"

That didn't do any good, for the two began to bicker with Lee, making the headache increase in intensity. Lee eventually left the room with Jewel, still rubbing her temples. Maybe one of her friends would know what to do. She walked through the halls and corridors, trying to silence Cora and Alban. She was so focused on what was going on in her head, that she didn't notice Professor Quirrell and walked right into him.

"Sorry Miss Lee," He stuttered.

"No, my fault, sorry," Lee replied. "I just have this awful headache. I'm not paying attention to anything around me."

Professor Quirrell gave her a curious look. As Lee passed him, still rubbing her temples, she thought as though another pair of eyes was watching her. Her headache increased even more. Lee's finger twitched, and she felt a spark of magic come from her fingertip.

"Interesting," She heard, from something that sounded like a snake. "Perhaps there is a use for this."

Lee shook the voice she heard, thinking it to just be a trick. She spent the rest of the day in the dorm, either napping or taking an aspirin. She was beginning to wish she'd never been a witch.


	8. Year One Ends

**Chapter Eight: Year One Ends**

Everyone returned from the holidays with high spirits, which were quickly dimmed by excessive school work. Harmony, Lee, Sarah, and Kaede spent their time on the lakeshore studying. Harmony had begun to procrastinate her work, much to the displeasure of her friends. Lee was happy when her friends returned, but they noticed when she began to take aspirin almost every three classes or kept rubbing her temples. Her more irritable attitude was the most noticeable thing that had changed. While they sat studying, they decided to ask about it.

"Lee, is everything all right?" Kaede asked. "You seem...irritable."

"That would be one way of putting it," Lee replied. "I'm fine. Just some really bad headaches."

"Are you sure it's headaches?" Sarah asked. "Normal headaches don't come every single day."

"They're normal," Lee answered. "It's the cause of them that isn't."

"How can there be an abnormal cause of headaches?" Harmony asked.

"Well, you know that strange magic I've got?" Lee asked, getting nods from her friends. "Turns out it's caused by two magical entities that love to bicker with each other, and me."

"No wonder you've been taking so much aspirin," Sarah replied. "That sounds awful."

"You've got no idea."

Lee explained how they began talking during break. Her friends listened carefully and even gave her tips for the headaches. They sat there until the bell rang. Harmony and Lee dashed off to potions. They entered the dungeons and took their seats before the bell rang to start class. Lee set up everything in a flash. Snape came in and began the lesson.

"Today you must work in pairs to brew a proper invisibility draught," Snape instructed. "You have until the end of the hour. The instructions are on the board."

Harmony let Lee get out all of the necessary materials as they started.

"Are you going to help or just sit there for the entire hour?" Lee asked with a smirk.

"Well, I suck at potions, so you can do it," Harmony answered. "Besides, haven't you brewed every potion in the book already?"

"I've brewed every antidote, there's a difference," she corrected.

Lee managed to get Harmony to read the steps from the book while she brewed the potion. As the end of the hour approached, Lee bottled the potion and took it up to Snape. She sat back down with a smile and began cleaning up.

"That potion was easy," Lee stated. "You could've brewed it, Harmony."

"No, I would've screwed it up," Harmony replied.

Snape dismissed the class just as the bell rang and the two friends went to the Great Hall for lunch. Lee and Harmony took their regular spots at the end of the Slytherin table. While they ate, Lee pulled out a few pieces of paper and read them over. Harmony peeked over her shoulder and found that they were different job options.

"You're looking for a job?" She asked with confusion.

"Well, trainers have the option of doing special expeditions for the guild to earn some money," Lee answered. "And I'm looking at the different spots I could take."

"Why not get a job in Hogsmeade?"

"Because that's boring," Lee groaned. "Besides, there's actually a more free range position where I have the ability to travel anywhere I want and take data on the animals I encounter."

"Wow, that actually sounds like something you'd really like," Harmony replied. "I can tell that you like to have some control."

"And who wouldn't want to see the world?" Lee added. "There's too much out there that I just want to see. Now I have the freedom to see it."

"But aren't you going to have to go back to Chicago?"

"I'm not going back there for the life of me."

The day passed in a flash. That day became two, then three, then a week. Lee had been given the 'free range' travel position. Harmony's secret pile of paperwork from her father had doubled and she was falling dangerously behind. The end of the year was coming soon and the professors began preparing them for their exams. As they kept studying, the friends spent more time on their own. Lee would be flying over the lake for hours, while Harmony would be in some corner trying to do work. Sarah would be off climbing somewhere and Kaede would be on the astronomy tower. One day, when the exams began, Harmony and Lee had managed to find some time to hang out.

"So, how do you think you did on the charms exam?" Harmony asked.

"I think I did fine, what about you?"

"Terrible," Harmony replied. "I suck at magic in general."

"If you applied yourself more then maybe you'd do better," Lee suggested.

"But that requires work…" She moaned.

"Everything requires work." Lee pointed out.

"Then I won't do anything."

"Doing nothing requires you to do something."

"No it doesn't, you're just trying to make me miserable." Harmony said lazily.

"Nah, I'm just trying to get you to be productive." Lee stated.

They soon went inside to escape some of the heat. They took a seat in a corner in the Great Hall. The two friends practically melted into the shadows. They quieted their conversation when they heard someone approaching. It was Professor Quirrell. He kept talking to himself, which they found very odd. He didn't seem to have his stutter. Lee slinked around the edge of the hall to try and hear it better.

"Master, I assure you, it is as good as yours," he muttered, making Lee strain to hear him. "Albus Dumbledore will not pose any problem to our plan."

"You had better not fail me," a voice hissed, surprising Lee, "Or there will be consequences for your incompetence."

Lee glanced back at Harmony with wide eyes. She knew that voice. Lee had heard it during Christmas! Before Quirrell had a chance to discover the two eavesdroppers, they exited the hall. They went up to the Room of Requirement and began discussing what they'd heard.

"That was freaky, even to me," Harmony commented.

"I know the voice," Lee stated quickly, "I heard that voice during Christmas break."

"Do you know who it belongs to?"

"Honestly, Harm, I'm not sure I want to know," Lee answered, "Because that would open a really bad can of worms."

"Well then what exactly are you going to do?" Harmony asked.

"Hope it goes away?" Lee replied sheepishly.

"I don't think it will go away."

"Let's just wait and see. Besides the year is almost over, I'm sure everything will work itself out."

They waited patiently. The exams ended soon, and everything seemed fine. Then, one night, Harmony had another vision, and Lee had another dream.

Harmony was standing in a graveyard. She saw Harry in a red and black shirt, standing with a Hufflepuff boy. The strange thing was that Harry wasn't eleven. He seemed to be a teenager. The Hufflepuff boy was about seventeen and Lee was slinking around in the shadows with Peat. Harry crumpled in pain and his hand shot to his forehead. A man that Harmony didn't recognize was there, holding a bundle in his arms.

"Kill the spare." the bundle hissed.

Harmony froze and recognized the voice as the one she had heard today.

"Avada Kedavra!" The man shouted.

A bolt of green light came from his wand and blasted the boy, killing him. Lee looked petrified in the shadows. The man forced Harry onto a grave and dropped the bundle into a cauldron. He added a bone to the cauldron and then sliced his own hand off to add to it as well! Harry was in agony, and Harmony saw Lee standing in the shadows. She knew the look on her face. Lee wanted to help. The man then added Harry's blood to the cauldron. It fizzed and turned into a black cloud. When it disappeared, it was a new man. His face was snake-like and he had red slits for eyes.

Harmony bolted awake, covered in cold sweat. First she'd seen Lee with Kaede and Aero Shield and that came true. She hoped and prayed that this vision didn't come to pass! Harmony had a sneaking suspicion of who the man from the cauldron had been. She had never heard anybody tell her what he looked like, but the chills she got made her think that it was him…

Lee was beginning to get used to having these dreams with Cora and Alban. Cora had turned out to be a really pale girl with the darkest shade of black hair possible, and her eyes were just as dark. Alban had pale skin as well, but her hair was whiter than snow, with eyes to match. They seemed to think Lee ignored them during the day, which she did. They had been having these visits since after break. Cora and Alban were still bickering with each other. The topic of the day was who Lee should be like.

"Your powers are barbaric!" Alban snapped. "And your personality is just as bad! Really, Lee you need to be like me and have the ability to heal, instead of whatever Cora does."

"Excuse me?! I am NOT barbaric!" Cora retorted. "Besides, Lee needs to be strong and powerful! Otherwise she's just a weakling! Nobody cares about healing, it's power that matters!"

"For crying out loud, why don't you just let me be me!" Lee yelled. "Really, you say that you both chose me to be your host for a reason, so why don't you let me be who I want to be?! It's not rocket science!"

"Lee, it's not about you," Cora said patronizingly.

"I'd hate to disagree, but it kind of is." Lee replied. "You're arguing about what I should be like."

The two entities continued to bicker while Lee stood helplessly in the middle. She shook her head as they kept arguing. It was when they went silent that she looked up. To her surprise, the two entities had disappeared.

"Cora? Alban?" Lee asked suspiciously. "Not that I'm complaining, but why'd you vanish?"

Lee jumped in surprise when she saw a hole open up in front of her. It went on forever, and it was completely black. She heard the same hissing voice from it. That made her turn and run.

"Master, you are not strong enough!" Professor Quirrell cried. "You must wait until we have the stone!"

Lee pushed away her curiosity and focused on getting away from the hole. Like her life couldn't get any more crazy! She heard Cora and Alban shrieking behind her and felt like her head was being torn apart. She ran back and found that the hole was trying to swallow them! Lee grabbed their arms and pulled them away as hard as she could.

"You two could try helping!" Lee snapped. "This isn't exactly a walk in the park!"

"How do you suggest we help?" Cora snapped back.

"I don't know! Try using your feet! They're not useless you know!"

They pushed their feet against the edge and managed to pull themselves forward with Lee's help. When they got away from the hole, it vanished. Lee was breathing heavily and glanced at the two entities. What would try and literally rip them from a dream?

Lee found her answer when she woke up the next day. There was a buzz going around the Great Hall at breakfast.

"Lee! Harmony!" Sarah called, running to meet them.

"What's up?" Lee asked.

"It's Harry. He's in the hospital wing!" Sarah answered.

Lee dropped her fork and dragged Harmony to the wing. Madame Pomfrey was in there tending to him. He looked like he was out cold. Professor Dumbledore was sitting next to the bed calmly. Lee ran in and immediately began questioning him.

"Professor, what happened?! Is Harry all right?!" She asked rapidly.

"Lee, please relax," Professor Dumbledore said calmly. "Harry will be fine."

"But what happened?" Harmony asked. "How did he get like this?"

"It seems that young Mr. Potter has escaped from Voldemort once again," Dumbledore answered.

"Wait, Voldemort?" Lee replied, confused. "I thought Voldemort was gone."

"It seems that he had attached himself to Professor Quirrell.," Dumbledore explained. "He attempted to steal something last night, and Harry and his friends stopped him."

"Wait, Ron and Hermione were there too?" Sarah asked quickly. "They're okay, right?"

"They are both perfectly fine," Dumbledore assured her. "Now, you three should head back to breakfast."

Harmony and Sarah turned to leave, but Lee stayed rooted to the spot.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up later." Lee said blandly.

They left the wing and Dumbledore gave Lee a warm smile.

"It seems that you've taken a liking to Mr. Potter," he stated.

"I don't know, he's like a brother," Lee replied. "Professor, was Voldemort always so...parasitic?"

"No, in fact, he despised having to rely on something, especially if it was someone else," he replied. "I've also noticed that is a trait you shared in common."

"What?!" Lee exclaimed. "Professor, you can't be serious. There's no way I'm like him."

"Calm down, Lee," Dumbledore chuckled. "You don't share that trait with him anymore, but you were very alike when you were in your orphanage. I do say, those scars you've collected seem quite nasty."

"How'd you…?"

"Lee, I've been watching you grow quite a lot," Dumbledore stated, "It's not difficult to see that you aren't the same. You say you view Harry as a brother?"

"Wow, sudden topic change," Lee muttered. "Well, yeah. I mean, he and I have a lot in common, and he...I don't know."

"He showed you that you aren't the only person to be raised the way you were," Dumbledore stated. "I think we've had enough conversation for now. Go back and get yourself some more breakfast."

Lee left the infirmary with questions buzzing through her head. How did Dumbledore know? Why did he suddenly change the topic so much? They went through her head many times over. She went back and sat down with Harmony.

"So, what did you talk about?" Harmony asked.

"Nothing important," Lee answered. "Just some stuff."

"Okay. So, where are you going this summer?" Harmony asked again.

"I'm flying to the African jungle," Lee replied cheerfully. "Not a lot of trainers go there, so there isn't a lot of knowledge on what creatures live there. What about you?"

"I'm going back to Italy," Harmony answered, "My parents have a lot of work for me to do."

The last day came in a flash. Lee, Harmony, Sarah, and Kaede were boarding the Hogwarts express to go back to London. They took a compartment at the back of the train. Lee sat there with Peat draped across her lap like a cat.

"So, what do you think the adventure's gonna be next year?" Sarah joked.

"Who knows, maybe it'll be a vicious dinosaur wreaking havoc on the school." Lee replied with a laugh.

"A dinosaur? Aren't those extinct?" Kaede asked.

"With magic, who knows?" Lee shrugged.

The train pulled out of the Hogsmeade station and the four friends talked eagerly about the next year. They all promised to write over the summer as much as possible. They laughed as their journey continued. When the train pulled into the station, they left it together. Kaede went to meet her sister on the platform. Sarah quickly vanished when she saw her aunt.

"So, are your parents on the platform or waiting for you in the muggle world?" Lee asked Harmony.

"Probably waiting in the muggle world," Harmony answered, "Where are you going to take off?"

"First I've got to hit Diagon Alley," Lee answered, "Then they send to me to my destination from the HQ."

"Don't die in those jungles," Harmony warned.

"I promise I won't die," Lee assured her, "Besides, Aero Shield will look after me."

They ran through the barrier to King's Cross Station. The two friends bid farewell as Harmony went to her parents. Lee began her walk to Diagon Alley, for once, realizing that she'd finally found something to look forward to.

"So, was that one of your friends?" Harmony's dad asked.

"Yeah. That's Lee," Harmony answered. "She's traveling to Africa to train dragons."

"How are there dragons in Africa?" Her mother asked.

"She said wizards are good at keeping them under wraps." Harmony explained. "I'll bet she'll come back next year with twenty dragons."

Harmony and her family left for the airport, ready to fly back to Italy. Harmony couldn't wait for Hogwarts next year. Though, she wouldn't be very happy if they had to deal with the same crazy antics next year.


End file.
